L am Dragonborn II
by BlueWolf1923
Summary: Alduin has fallen. The Dragonborn Prophecy has been fulfilled, and L has returned to our world, but he is far from done. His quest to slay the World-Eater has left loose ends to deal with and more work to do. Wars are beginning, and Skyrim needs him now more than ever. Meanwhile, an old enemy from Earth pursues the Dragonborn, obsessed with defeating him.
1. Relight

The screech of an alarm clock woke Light Yagami, who rubbed his eyes and sat up with little hesitation. _Finally… finally I can get back to Tamriel. _He climbed out of bed, and changed into jeans and a black t-shirt. A year ago, he would have dressed more formally, but he had changed. In Skyrim, there was no need for a freshly ironed suit. Instead, he had his equipment ready in a duffle bag. His Daedric armour, lacking shoulder plates, gloves and a helm, sat there under his bed, along with twin razor-sharp scimitars of the same material.

On display at his desk sat a magical ebony mask, once called Nahkriin. It stared grimly out at the room's sole inhabitant, almost robotic in appearance. "Morning," he greeted it cheerfully, then headed downstairs for breakfast.

He was interrupted in the middle of pouring milk by a quiet knock at the door. He set down the jug and answered the door. "Misa? What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you off. Is that okay?"

"Sure, why not… come on in." he opened the door and let her in.

"Light… you still remember it all, right? Being Kira?"

"Yeah." he went back to his breakfast. "You want something to eat?"

"I already ate." Misa looked around, not sure how to proceed. "What was it like? Killing people, I mean."

"Here, or in Skyrim?"

"Here."

"I felt… powerful. I felt like a god."

"And in Skyrim?"

"That was different. I didn't care what I was. All that mattered was survival, and the rush as I swung my swords."

"Huh…" Misa turned and looked out the window as a black limousine pulled up in front of the house. "Is that L?"

"Well, that's Watari in the driver's seat, but I didn't think L would be so conspicuous." He finished eating, and retrieved his equipment from his bedroom. He glanced at Nahkriin again, and considered taking it. It wasn't the first time he'd thought of it, but as always, he decided it would stay. The mask remained still and silent, yet Light felt as though it were arguing with his decision. He left, and shut the door.

L came up the stairs, mouth half-open to speak, but Light leapt forward and clamped a hand over his mouth. "My parents are still asleep!" he hissed. "My father's been trying to track a serial killer for two weeks now, and this is the first time he's slept in three days."

"I was going to whisper anyway," L replied. "I'm well aware of the situation Yagami-san is in… Still, I hope you had the common sense to let him know you were leaving today."

"Of course I did." Light shifted his grip on the duffle bag, which contained almost a hundred pounds of metal.

"Good, then let's go. Misa told me she was coming to see us off, she's already in the limo."

"Yeah, about that… it doesn't really seem your style. You know, to hide a tree use a forest, that kind of thing? Blending in?"

"If anyone were looking for me," he replied as they made for the limousine, "They would expect me to attempt to blend in. If they're going to look for something extravagant like a limo, they're as predictable as they assume me to be. Plus, if you recall, I can catch sword blades with my bare hands now. Not to mention my extensive knowledge of magic and the Thu'um in particular."

Watari opened the door for them, and Light stepped into the limo first, laying his bag on the floor next to L's luggage, several large black suitcases. "What the heck are you bringing?"

"Mostly candy, and my weapons. I'm bringing my old dragonscale armour back to Skyrim, since it could cause a problem if it were found here." Light nodded, and took a seat. L crouched in his, and explained, "I'm not much worried about a car crash. Even if we were hit, I'd be fine, no matter how much I bounce around." he peeled the plastic off a box of expensive chocolates as the limo started moving.

"So, how many times have you visited Skyrim since Alduin?" Light asked as he reached for a bag of potato chips amidst the snacks and sweets scattered over the floor of the limo.

"You noticed those… I thought you might," L remarked, nodding to the chips. "I've returned to Skyrim twice over the past two months. Once to confirm that I am still alive and High King of Skyrim, as well as return the Jagged Crown and Elder Scroll to Tamriel. I've made Jarl Balgruuf my right-hand and steward of the realm, meaning he sits the throne in my absence. The second time, I was gone for a week, and I put a few plans into motion. The second semester at the Mage's College of Winterhold is set to begin in about three months, and I've been hired there to teach the apprentices. From what I've heard, not many have been enrolling. Aside from that, I've been improving diplomatic relations with Cyrodiil, and preparing for war with the Aldmeri. I'm also trying to satisfy the needs of the Dov. The most pressing matter, however, is an uprising by the vampire population. They've banded together and all but destroyed the Vigil of Stendarr."

He paused, and popped another candy into his mouth. "At the very least, there is some good news. A few skilled Vigilants survived, and formed a splinter group calling themselves the Dawnguard. They've been recruiting and rebuilding, getting ready to seek out the vampires, but… I don't like this. Vampires don't usually attract this kind of attention, so they must have a reason. A motive, or a plan…" he shrugged. "Whatever it is, I am High King, and I have a duty to protect my people. They must be stopped, before they repeat this massacre."

"So, what's your plan?" Misa asked, enthralled. _Dragons, kings, vampires… it's incredible…_

"Finding their den is the only real problem. Once that is done, I can simply lead the Dawnguard there and eliminate them."

The limo slowed to a stop, and Light peered out a window. "This is… the headquarters of the Kira Task Force…"

"Which is still my property," L replied. "Watari…" he turned to face the older detective, and continued, "I'll likely be gone for at least a month this time, but I plan to return to Earth from time to time. If you don't mind, please finish up the cases I've been working on, arrest the criminals I've tracked down and such."

Watari nodded, and drove away once L and Light had unloaded their luggage.

The lobby of the building looked abandoned, devoid of furniture, but Light knew better. The upper floors were likely as pristine as the task force had left them, most of them having been prepared for use that never came. A layer of dust was the worst they'd find.

"So, how exactly does all of this work? And why are we using this place?"

"I'm going to tie the suitcases to my wrist. I've yet to determine why, but anything I'm touching or carrying, as well as things tied to my person, are pulled into Tamriel with me. As for why we're here, my Thu'um is loud, and would draw attention. It also seems to briefly disrupt the vision of those in the vicinity, which Watari informed me of. It would warrant an investigation, so we are putting distance between ourselves and the civilians. We'll be using the top floor of this tower to leave Earth."

X

Watari cried out in pain as he landed face down on an expensive Persian rug. He groaned, as he tasted blood, then rolled onto his back and stared helplessly up at his attacker, who grinned down at him. "So, where is he now?"

"I'll never betray L for you. You're going to kill me anyway," He croaked.

"Wrong!" the attacker cackled loudly. Watari recoiled from the sound, it was not human. "I'm not gonna kill you. I can't anyway, you're not supposed to die for three years!" He shuddered as his fate was revealed. "But think about that. It's three years I can torture you for. No one except you can prevent that."

"He's at… the task force headquarters… he'll be in Skyrim in less than an hour." He sobbed helplessly and shamefully.

The attacker laughed again. "You see, Quill? Everybody breaks. Everybody changes. There's no set of rules and beliefs that can hold up forever. What you call morality, it can't save you. Which is why I gave up clinging to it, and now I call it stupidity." The attacker wiped his red-stained hands on his shirt, staining the white cloth. "Oh, and Quill? Don't stick around, 'cause if I have to come back here, I'll have to ask you again, and it'll be painful. For both of us."A bloody butcher knife clattered to the hardwood floor at the edge of the rug, and Watari glanced down at the stab wound in his leg, made by the weapon. "Oh, and try not to bleed out on me. I may need you later."

The attacker looked up at the ceiling, grinning. "Oh, what a wonderful world, eh, Quill?"

"Go to hell," Watari moaned, clutching his leg in agony.

"There is no Hell." the attacker chuckled, and added, "If there was, I'd be sending L there."

He left, and Watari watched him go. When the room fell silent, and he was confident the psychopath would not return, Watari crawled to a table where his cell phone sat. His teeth were gritted against the pain in his leg, but he reached up and pulled the phone down. "I'm sorry, Ryuzaki," he lamented, then began to dial L's number.

X

L's phone rang, and Light suppressed a chuckle as he was reminded that L even held his phone with a finger and thumb. "Yes?" As the person on the other end began to talk, L blanched. "It's… alright. There was nothing you could have done. No, we'll be fine. He can't follow us into Skyrim. Of course I have to go back. People are dying by the hundreds over there, they need their king. We caught him last time, we can do it again… just get yourself stitched up, Watari. I'll be back soon to deal with him, but I have to go." he hung up, and turned to Light with a sigh. "We… have to go early. Right now, in fact. There's someone coming."

"And you're afraid of this person?" Light scoffed.

Before L could respond, an evil laugh echoed through the room. "How the hell did he get here this fast? Damn it!" Light's eyes widened, and he looked around. "Light, grab your equipment, everything else is just candy…" L froze. _Misa._

The laugh echoed again, louder. "Hey, _Lawliet… _did you miss me?"

"He knows your name?" Light asked. "What the hell is going on?"

"Misa." L turned to face her, and extended a hand. "You have to come with us. If you stay here, he'll kill you."

A gunshot rang out, and the laugh came again. "NOW!" L roared, and clamped a hand on Light's shoulder. Misa darted forward and grasped his hand. "NAHL DAAL VUS!"

X

15th of Sun's Dawn, 4E 202

Light immediately yanked open his duffle bag and pulled out a Daedric sword, during the brief moment when he had yet to realize they were safe in Skyrim. L, meanwhile, listened to the echo of his foe's laugh, praying inwardly that it was all in his head.

Misa pried her eyes away from the jagged sword and looked around at their surroundings. "Wow…" they were in a stone hall, empty except for them and the furniture. The room was lit solely by candlelight and torchlight. "What is this place?"

"This is High Hrothgar," L explained. "This is where the last mortal users of the Voice safely exercise their power, Shouting to the sky as a prayer to Kynareth."

"Users of the Voice? Well, where is everybody?"

"There are only four, of whom only one can speak the common tongue without Shouting forth destructive power. I assume they're outside as usual." L looked up, and added, "we are on the side of a mountain called the Throat of the World, and at its peak, the oldest dragon in Skyrim makes his home. Even now, it still seems surreal."

"So, why are we here? Why High Hrothgar?" Light asked.

"When I left Skyrim last time, I had been here. Paarthurnax is one of few dragons willing to talk to me rather than challenge me for supremacy, so I'm connected to the Dov through him, Kahliivnin, and Odahviing." L looked around once more, still afraid of who he might find staring back, then added, "Apparently, the headquarters of the Dawnguard is in the Velothi mountain range, and the only entrance is through Dayspring Canyon, near Stendarr's Beacon. We should stop in Riften along the way… I'm not comfortable taking Misa back to Japan yet… he's seen her now, with us. So, Misa, we'll stop in Riften and get you some armour…"

L turned around, and as he did, he felt something scratch his chest, something cold and sharp. He looked down, and saw a fishhook in the front of his shirt. He plucked it out, already knowing what had happened to put it there. A thin, clear fishing line was tied to the hook, dangling from it in his hand.

"He's here."

"Then let's _kill him_," Light growled. "Whoever he is, he's in our territory. You're the Dragonborn, and I'm the Champion of Sithis. Why the hell are you so afraid?"

L began to reply, but a blur of movement caught his and Light's eye. Light brought up his sword, and blocked the incoming attack. "What the hell?"

It was L's face staring back at him, or at least, a near-perfect replica of it. He was wielding a katana with a blade of dark red metal, and was wearing a white long-sleeve shirt and faded blue jeans. He was barefoot, and this gave Light the theory that the newcomer was actively imitating L. He would have been an exact copy, were it not for his red eyes and broad, toothy grin. "Light Yagami… Why can't I see your lifespan, or L's?"

"You have shinigami eyes…" Light stepped backward, and violently swung his sword downward, smashing it into his foe's weapon. The newcomer yelped at the pain in his hands, but continued to grin as he turned and ran away. "Ryuzaki, who is this guy?"

"His name is Beyond Birthday," L replied with a shaky sigh. "I told you about him, he was my successor. What I don't understand, is where and how he got that sword… I can tell it's made of ebony, and enchanted. He followed us to Skyrim, but he must have gotten that weapon here in Tamriel… has he been to Skyrim before?"

"Ryuzaki, listen to me." Light glared at him, and held up his sword. "Next time we meet him, you'd better damn well draw your sword."

"My sword… Strunkriid! NAHL DAAL LEIN!" Light sheathed his weapon as L disappeared into a blue portal, and reappeared moments later with a suitcase. He opened it, pulled out his sheathed sword, and wrapped the belt around his waist.

"Hey, Ryuzaki…" Misa stepped forward. "Can I stay here with you guys for a few weeks? You talk about Skyrim all the time, and I really want to see what it's like."

L shrugged. "One condition." he reached into the suitcase and pulled out a vest of dragon scales, a piece of the same armour he had worn in battle against Alduin. "You have to wear this, and learn to use some form of weaponry." he held out the vest, and she took it, running her palm over the polished-smooth scales. "If you like, I can teach you to use Destruction magic as well, but that will have to wait. We need to find Beyond, and deal with the vampires as well."

"When we find this guy," Light answered, "We're gonna kill him. You understand that, right?"

L nodded. "I've saved him from execution several times. Each time, he escapes and kills more people in the process… I've put it off for too long. This time he went after Watari and us, and now I know how his other victims felt as he closed in. I can't forgive him anymore, and I should never have made it my choice."

X

"Dovahkiin… what brings you to my strunmah?" Paarthurnax landed atop the Monahven, folding his ancient wings comfortably. "You seem troubled… greatly so…"

L crouched in the snow, still wearing his clothes from Earth, and therefore barefoot. "Power alone does not make a great leader," he announced in the dragon speech. "I have made mistakes recently."

"Do you speak of the… wretched creature that came to me, laughing insanely and swinging his weapon at nothing but air?" Paarthurnax replied in the common tongue.

L winced. "That would be the biggest one."

"I do not see how its existence is your fault. It wore your face, but it was not you."

"It is my responsibility to stop him."

"Then do so. He laughed at me like a man possessed, and sprinted north." Paarthurnax curled his tail under his left wing. "You have proven yourself capable in all the tasks set for you thus far, and this creature… even if it is not human, it is certainly no World-Eater. You will prevail, I feel it."

L smiled at his toes. "Maybe you're right… I've been depressed before, and I got over it. Maybe that's all this is." he stood, and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "How fare the Dov?"

"Well enough." Paarthurnax ruffled his wings. "Kahliivnin leads them, and none can match his Thu'um. He is almost as humble as when you first brought him here, but now… I mistrust him. I cannot say why, perhaps it is the black scales that remind me of Alduin, and nothing deeper."

"Black scales?"

"His skin fell away, revealing a new creature beneath. His scales shine black, like polished ebony. It is unnerving, his resemblance to a young Alduin."

"Ah… has he been devouring souls since Alduin?"

"Few enough, only the souls of the Dov foolish enough to challenge him, among them some of the oldest and most ambitious. He has grown mighty, but he is no tyrant."

"And what of the Blades?"

Paarthurnax sighed. "They have not attacked since Alduin's death, but they have made it clear that they intend war. I fear there is no way to avoid it."

"Zu'u Dovahkiin. They will listen to me, and lay down their arms."

"Forgive me for not sharing that confidence. Killing the Dov is the sole reason for the Blades' existence, and a creature fights for existence more fiercely than any other prize."

X

Misa still found she couldn't stop eyeing Light's armour. It had been three days since they arrived in Tamriel, and Light had worn it every day. L had explained that it was made of ebony, a material similar to obsidian, but harder than any metal. It could be forged with a hammer, whereas obsidian from Earth would shatter easily from such a blow. Explaining that much had led to a lesson on Daedra, then the planes of Oblivion, the religions of Tamriel, and magic.

"…there are five main schools of magic, Destruction was my specialty. The others are Conjuration, Illusion, Alteration and Restoration." L himself was wearing a brown fur cloak that wrapped around his entire body from the neck down. Under that, he was wearing loose tan robes, the colour of Hammerfell's warm sands. Aside from Strunkriid, there were other, more mundane weapons concealed under his cloak.

"What do you mean it _was _your specialty?"

"After I lost my magicka to Alduin, I began studying a separate form of magic, not a true school, but nothing less, either. It's called Enchanting, and it's focused on binding magical effects to objects like weapons and armour."

Misa yelped in shock as an ebony arrow hit L in the side of the head. It shattered into tiny black splinters, and L turned to face the shooter, a Nord in blue and white robes. The bow was of elven make, glistening gold in the sunlight. _A Vigil of Stendarr? _The shooter turned and fled, but L teleported into his path. He stepped backward and nocked an arrow, releasing it at L's chest. Once again, it shattered. "You're using this horribly," he pointed out calmly. "At this range, with me unarmed and not moving, you should have aimed for an eye, the most vulnerable part of my body."

"Would that have worked?" The shooter asked grimly.

"Of course not. Now, give me the bow, and come quietly." The Nord laughed, and dropped his weapon. He held L's stare for a brief moment, then ran. "Damn it." L chased him, but the man fled north into a forest and picked up speed. L began teleporting through the trees to keep up.

Without warning, a steel blade whistled through the air at his head. He ducked with lightning speed, and flung open his cloak, revealing the white hilt of Strunkriid at his belt. With a single motion, he drew the sword and slashed at his attacker, who was wearing the same robes as the archer had. His opponent blocked the attack, and their swords locked together between them. "If you're the Vigil of Stendarr, it's small wonder the vampires slaughtered you… you're idiots if you think I'm the enemy."

It was then that L noticed the glowing orange eyes of the other swordsman, a telltale sign of vampirism. "Ah… clever. You're here to attack the Dawnguard while wearing disguises… strike at them before they can gather strength. It might have been successful, if not for the fact you targeted me." Blue electricity exploded across Strunkriid's blade, and arced along the steel sword in the vampire's hands. The vampire yelped and dropped his sword in pain, an opportunity L seized. He drew back his sword and stabbed through the vampire's heart, killing him.

A second vampire, this one with a greatsword of dwarven metal, aimed a downward swing at L's head before he could pull Strunkriid free. He took his hand from the white hilt of his sword and caught the greatsword's blade. With a twist of his hand, he snapped the blade in half, then drew an ebony war axe from within his cloak and swung it. The vampire blocked the blow with the remaining half of his weapon, but L teleported away and threw the axe as a tomahawk. It struck blade-first into the vampire's skull.

L frowned, and held up his hand. A thin gash marred his palm where he had caught the greatsword. "I can still be cut after all." he healed the wound, and retrieved both his weapons from the vampire corpses. As he was wiping his blood from the haft of his axe, a third vampire attacked, only to be blocked by Light.

"Finally some excitement! I was always so _bored on Earth!" Light slashed at the vampire's chest with his right-hand sword, but his opponent danced away. _"Either you're more skilled than your dead pals, or I'm horribly out of practice… either way, this'll last longer. I prefer that."

"Do you always talk so much in battle, mortal?" The vampire swung his sword of elven moonstone, but Light parried easily with one sword and impaled the vampire with the other.

"Mortal?" he echoed. "Don't kid yourself. Do you really feel immortal with your innards wrapped around my sword?" The vampire groaned weakly, and howled as Light twisted the blade in his chest. "You'd best come to terms with your mortality, because you'll be dead in a few minutes."

The sound of clashing blades drew L's attention, especially when it was shortly followed by Misa's scream. He turned and teleported to her aid, but reappeared ten feet above the ground. Since he was unable to see his destination through the trees, he was unable to predict exactly where he'd arrive.

As he landed, he drew Strunkriid, its blade still wet with blood from its previous victim. Misa was knocked onto her back, with a hulking Orc in Vigilant robes standing over her, battleaxe in hand. She had apparently been disarmed, her ebony sword lay ten feet away in the grass. The vampire raised his axe to finish her, only to meet Strunkriid's blade. L shoved the weapons upward, and the Orc stepped back. "Misa… cover your ears, please." For a brief moment, she simply stared up at the back of his head, then numbly cupped her ears with her hands, not truly caring why he had asked her to.

It didn't help at all. When L swung his sword, a torrent of lightning burst forth from the blade, engulfing the vampire in searing electricity. The thunder that accompanied it was beyond comprehension, and at point-blank range it was deafening. It was only there for half a second, but when it faded, there was no trace of the vampire, not even a wisp of smoke. L sheathed his sword, and helped Misa to her feet. "Are you alright?"

She glanced past him, to the spot where the vampire had stood. "Yeah," she replied with a shrug. "You saved my life…"

"If you were to have died, it would have been my fault for letting you stay here in Skyrim." he retrieved her sword, and held it out to her with his hand wrapped around the blade. "It took me a year to master swordplay, but I had no teacher. I'll help you learn, and it should go more quickly for you. Until then…" She took the sword, and L released the blade. "Please stay by my side or Light's during battle. He and I both left you alone just now, and it nearly cost you your life. My first opponents here were human soldiers and half-dead Draugr, not to mention my training in martial arts. These are vampires, creatures meant to hunt and kill human beings as prey."

X

Beyond Birthday looked around the large stone chamber where he had made his home. His swordbelt hung on a wall, near his bed. He saw no one else, so he sat on the bed and began practicing his laugh.

After a few minutes, a Nord slowly entered the room, wincing every time Beyond laughed. His robes were dark crimson and faded black, with a black hood. "His Grace would like a word…"

"His Grace. Pfft. It seems his arrogance has grown since I left." Beyond stood. "I'd never hear such a pretentious alias on Earth. You go back to him, and tell him that I am not his servant. I am not a dog to be summoned, in fact I am here for no other reason than to exercise my free will. I answer to no man, no law, no gods. Still, I have no reason not to hear what he has to say, so also tell him I'll be right there. I'm not done practicing my laugh."

X

_A/N: Sorry about waiting this long to start the sequel. I wanted a few weeks to take a break from writing, and I was about to start exams when I finished writing L am Dragonborn. Sorry about the slow start too._

_Also, I don't have Dawnguard. I'm researching it through YouTube walkthroughs and the Elder Scrolls Wiki, but since I haven't actually played it, my versions of characters like Harkon and Serana may be a bit OOC. I have no familiarity with dungeons and levels in Dawnguard, so I'll recreate them while otherwise trying to maintain the same lore tied to the locations._

_Next chapter should be up soon. :D_


	2. First Move

"I don't understand." Light glared at Isran, the leader of the Dawnguard. "We intercepted an attack force of almost two dozen vampires on the way here. Half of them had ebony weapons, and every single one was dressed as a Vigilant. They were here to infiltrate and _exterminate_ you! So why the hell are you sending us to some Nordic crypt? The Dragonborn and the Champion of Sithis!"

Isran blinked. "Light, I understand you're a fearsome warrior, and damn well a genius. When the High King praises someone like that, you don't ignore it… but I've been hunting vampires since I was your age. Disguised or not, I could spot one from across this fortress, and speaking of this fortress, everyone in it has been trained to hunt and kill vampires as a career. As if that weren't enough, I can be certain that Fort Dawnguard is a secondary objective for the vampires. Whatever they're after, it's in Dimhollow Crypt, and they slaughtered the Vigil of Stendarr so they could get at it without interference. Which is exactly why you are _going there_," he finished with a growl.

Light's eyes flashed red, a warning not missed by L and Misa. "Dimhollow Crypt… fine. We'll bring back whatever's there, but remember this. If I come back and find this place under siege, I plan to sit back and watch the vampires burn it down."

Isran clenched his fists. "Another remark like that, boy, and I'll gut you before the vampires get a chance."

"Did you just threaten me?" This time, the red glow was sustained, and bright. Isran noticed it, and prepared himself to reach for his hammer. "Did you just threaten…"

L silently stepped forward, and stood directly between the two. "Enough." he turned first to face Isran. "I will warn you once, only because Light won't. If you ever raise a weapon against any one of us three, you will die. On that note, it's best you treat us, particularly Light, with due respect, and refrain from threats." he spun to face Light. "As for you… I expected and continue to expect better of you. I will not have you making enemies for me, and these people need our help. Don't make the mistake of thinking that gives us leave to step on them. You're smarter than that." he turned away, toward the door. "Now, Dimhollow Crypt. From your description, I can tell roughly where it is. We'll go there, investigate, and return here with our findings."

He left, and Misa watched him go while Light continued to stare down Isran. As soon as Misa left to follow L, Light broke off his glare, and left. Isran cracked his knuckles, frowning.

"Hey, Ryuzaki, how long's it gonna take us to reach this crypt?" Misa caught up to him quickly.

"A couple of weeks. We can use that time to train you." L continued to walk. Light approached alongside him, still furious but not showing it. "Light, I'm sorry about all that with Isran."

"No, it's fine. If he was really that annoying, I'd just kill him. His death wouldn't exactly wipe out the Dawnguard."

"All the same, please don't. If you want to talk about it so coldly, let me put this way: he may be of some use to us."

X

Five days later, L found himself standing on the shore of Clearspring Tarn, sword in hand. Moonlight shimmered on the small lake at his feet, and he smiled in the silence.

Then Misa's sword swung again, and the moment shattered. He blocked the attack to his shoulder, and backed away from Misa, who followed and swung at his knee. He parried the attack and swung Strunkriid upward. She gasped in surprise, and blocked. "Hey, if you have super-strength and all, how is it I can block your attacks?"

"The enchantment in my skin gives me incredible strength and speed, but it's separate from my natural abilities. It draws on my own magicka, and I have to consciously activate the strength and speed. My resistance to injury is active without my input, so I can't be ambushed or killed in my sleep." L leapt forward with his sword arm extended, but Misa knocked the blade aside and stepped closer, with her own weapon raised. He had no room to swing his sword, she was already past it.

She hit him with the pommel of the ebony sabre, in the middle of his forehead, hard. He stepped back and blinked. "You've used that lunging trick six times now. I got used to it," she explained.

"Good. Very good. Observation is crucial, and you seem to have a knack for it, but… how much else have you memorized?" L rubbed his forehead as he spoke, then resumed a battle stance. Misa lunged forward and brought her sword down toward his head, but L blocked.

"There it is! You could easily sidestep, but you keep blocking all my overhead swings!" She scraped the blade of her own sword along L's, toward the hilt. Bright orange sparks flew, until her blade collided with the white guard of Strunkriid. Her sword pulled his aside, and she headbutted him. The impact briefly stunned her, but L was the one sent reeling.

"You're aiming for my head specifically." L blinked a few times to clear his head. "It's working, by the way."

"I have two other theories, Ryuzaki." She lowered her sword. "First, you made your head and torso more protected than your limbs by that skin enchantment thing… but if that's true, my two attacks to your head should be way less effective than they were. You said you don't have to consciously activate your defensive enchantment, but I think you're consciously deactivating it right now."

"Misa…" L sheathed his weapon. "I can't believe I haven't seen it until now… your deductive reasoning is easily on par with mine and Light's. Every deduction you've made in this fight has been correct… and you're learning to use a sword quicker than I had hoped. At this rate, you'll be able to hold your own in a battle before we even reach Dimhollow Crypt. But, there is one problem." L pulled an ebony war axe from inside his cloak, and held it up for Misa to see. "Observing and memorizing an opponent's moves is useful, but you have to adapt quickly to a new weapon, a new enemy, a new fighting style. Are you ready?"

She raised her sword, and nodded. L moved forward and swung the axe from the right, so Misa blocked. The two weapons bounced apart. "I can see an incoming attack easily enough, and blocking it isn't a problem…"

"Practice dodging. If your opponent lasts long enough to recognize your own moves, you'll want to be able to use a completely different set of moves. Start a fight with blocking, then switch to dodging. Start with slashes, switch to stabbing. Aim high, then aim low."

"Good idea." Misa swung her sword at the haft of L's axe, and locked it into the hook of the axe blade. She yanked the axe from his grasp, and he reached for Strunkriid again. She stepped backward out of its reach, then lunged forward and punched him in the gut. "How was that?"

L healed his head and chest as he sheathed Strunkriid. "Effective, and rather painful without my enchanted skin…"

He would have said more, but a flash of red light behind Misa drew his attention. He recognized it as a magical attack, and immediately drew on his own magical power. A purple sphere of energy bloomed into existence around him, with a sound like glass shattering. A second portal opened behind Misa, and he stepped out with Strunkriid in hand. The ball of light shot forward, and L raised his sword over his head with both hands. The white blade was wrapped in electricity that spread from hilt to tip, and as the spell came within range, he brought Strunkriid down, firing the energy he had been charging within toward the red spell. It spread up and down as it moved forward, a tower of electricity that burned the grass it moved over. The two spells passed through each other, but the red sphere came out behind the electricity as a faint crimson wisp, whereas L's attack continued forward, aimed at whoever fired the red spell.

The thunder made Misa wince. "Ryuzaki, what the hell?"

"Sorry. I suppose I did overreact a bit, and I've only had Strunkriid for a couple months… if there's a way to make that lightning quieter, I haven't found it yet."

Light groaned in the tent of furs he had been sleeping in. "Damn you, Ryuzaki! The swordfighting was loud enough, but this…" he stepped out into the night, and found L already disappearing in another portal. The Dragonborn reappeared where the assassin had stood, and looked around in the dark, with a ball of magelight in his hand. He cast his gaze in all directions, but no one was there.

_Whoever it was obviously didn't take their assassination attempt very seriously… I admit, they've made a seamless escape, and that spell did look dangerous, why else would I have used the full extent of my power? Still, there was no follow-up, no second shot. _"We can safely assume two things," L announced as he extinguished the magelight. "Firstly, the attack was ordered by the vampires, and secondly, our deaths are very low on their list of priorities."

_Now that I think about it, this may not have been a real attack, they might simply have wanted an eyewitness account of Strunkriid's electricity. Everyone I've ever attacked it with has died, until now… Yes. This was a scouting mission, and they want me dead specifically. When I present a greater threat, and attack them, that's when they'll send real assassins, powerful vampires who may even stand a chance against me. But why? Why not eliminate me with a pre-emptive strike, and save themselves from any damage I might cause? No, that's obvious too, I know why... _"Light, Misa, tomorrow we need to start moving faster. Dimhollow Crypt really is the main target for the vampires, which means we have to get there first. They're moving there with the bulk of their forces."

"The question is, just how much force is that?" Light called out. "How many vampires have banded together? Where are they hiding, for that matter? Who leads them, what's their motive?"

"All excellent questions, Light." L teleported back to the tent, and retrieved the war axe Misa had disarmed him of. "Unfortunately, they're not questions we can get the answers to in one night."

"And they're not the question you care about right now, either."

L blinked, and turned to face Misa. _How could she have possibly figured out exactly what I was thinking? I guess her deductions are as effective outside of battle as they are in battle… _"Misa, you're starting to remind me of myself. Now, I mean that in a good way, but here's a question for you: If I don't care about how powerful the vampires are, who leads them, or why they're trying to kill us, what exactly is the question on my mind?"

"You want to know how Beyond Birthday fits into it." she sheathed her sword, and continued, "You know he does. In fact, I figured it out too. His sword had a dim red glow, and you've been telling me about enchantments… the only one with that colour is an enchantment for absorbing life force, the specialty of vampires. Plus, I don't think even you noticed this, but… the guard of his katana was shaped like two bats. His weapon is vampiric in origin. The fact he even has it means he's been to Skyrim before, so it's completely possible for him to have connections and affiliations from his first time here."

"He's been to Skyrim before? I think you're right, in fact, I've been thinking it myself, but your support of the idea gives it more credibility. We think alike. Yes, I believe Beyond was pulled into Skyrim at the same time Light and myself were. That would also help to explain his escape from prison. It's likely he was Shouted back to Earth by Tsun when we were, since his godly Voice is more powerful than even mine. If that's true, he's had a year of experience here, the same as Light and I. Since he isn't Dragonborn, he couldn't use the Shout I use to return here, plus he wasn't in Sovngarde to learn it. That would mean Beyond has spent the past two months stalking me, trying to find out how I travel between worlds, and how he can follow me back."

L paused, and stepped toward her, though there was still about ten feet of distance between them. "There is one thing you mentioned that puzzles me. You said Beyond's sword guard is designed to look like a pair of bats. You would have only had one moment to see that, when Light and Beyond crossed blades in High Hrothgar. You had maybe two seconds to get a good look at Beyond, so I doubt your priority was memorizing the appearance of his sword. No… you memorized everything about his entire appearance in less than two seconds."

Light's eyes widened. "Is that even possible for a human being?"

"Yes, but it's rare for someone to develop that level of perception, or to have it naturally. I can do it in about four seconds, but I didn't have four. I had two, and I was… afraid to look at him anyway."

"Afraid." Misa stared at L. "I've seen you do that lightning thing twice now. No human being could possibly survive a fight with you holding that sword, and as for your Voice… you haven't even bothered to Shout other than to bring us and your sword to Skyrim. When we first arrived at High Hrothgar, you had no reason to believe Beyond was anything other than a murderer, and the worst thing he could do was aim a knife at your guts. A knife which would bounce off you! So why? Why are you afraid?"

"Honestly, I'm not. I _was_ afraid, there's a difference. The last time I confronted Beyond, he came close to telling me the exact date I was going to die. That's why I was afraid. Shortly after Beyond fled from High Hrothgar, I remembered the level of power I possess, and stopped being afraid of him. Just as important, my lifespan is no longer visible through shinigami eyes, because I own a Death Note."

X

The sun rose over Dimhollow Crypt, and the sky was lit a fiery orange. Misa's breath turned to fog in front of her, and she brushed frost from the hilt of her sword. "Is it just me, or is it colder here than in the surrounding area?"

L nodded, but didn't look away from the wooden wall at the entrance of the cave. It had been smashed to pieces by something with incredible strength. "They've arrived before us… it's not too much of a problem as long as they haven't left yet. If they have… we're here for nothing, Fort Dawnguard is likely under attack, and the vampires are already putting their plan into motion."

"Ryuzaki…" Light pointed at the remains of the wall. "That wasn't a door. It was smashed open, and there were no hinges or keyholes that I can see. This place was completely sealed." he looked up, and pointed at the demonic statue crouching above the entrance. "And that gargoyle… We've never seen a gargoyle in Skyrim until now."

"This isn't Nordic architecture," L acknowledged. "It was most likely built by vampires."

Misa drew her sword and backed away from the entrance. "What the hell is this thing?" she cried out. It was then that L and Light heard the fragments of stone tumbling down from the gargoyle's perch. It stood, and roared at the sun.

L stared up at it as he drew his sword. "Now, why didn't I see that coming?"

The gargoyle jumped down in front of the entrance, and snarled. Misa charged at it, her sword raised. "Let me fight it, Ryuzaki!" Its claws took on a red glow, and it reached to rip out her throat, but she saw it coming, and sidestepped. She brought her sword down on its neck, crying out in pain as her blade bounced off its stone skin. _This thing's made of stone! _She backed away a few steps, and took a better look. _No… it's not… it's wearing stone over the parts that should be most targeted. The throat and the stomach… and the top of the head, too!_ She dodged a swing of its claws, dove past it, and rolled to her feet behind it. _The back of the neck is exposed! _She hacked at it before the gargoyle could turn to face her. Her blade sliced cleanly through its neck, and she stepped away from the corpse in surprise.

L approached the corpse. "A blade of ebony is sharper than steel by far," he explained as she continued to stare at the decapitated gargoyle. "It holds that edge better, and it's all but impossible to shatter in battle." He stopped to peer down at the severed head. "Still, that stroke was expertly done. You took its head clean off."

"Yeah, I noticed," she answered. "I just didn't expect to dismember the damn thing." She held up the blood-slick weapon, then her eyes widened. "Ryuzaki, you were letting me attack you with this! For two weeks we've been training with razor-sharp swords!"

"And?" he asked nonchalantly.

"I could have killed you, or you could have killed me, or…"

"I suppose you could have cut me rather badly, but like me, you weren't aiming to actually strike flesh. Besides, Strunkriid is more meant for focusing magical attacks rather than a cutting edge, so it's actually less sharp than an ebony weapon. And, like I said, neither of us were trying to strike a killing blow."

"And here's a good look at why." Misa pointed to the decapitated gargoyle. "Let's go. That thing didn't attack whoever broke in, so it probably works for them. They may have even left it out here as a sentry, so they wouldn't get attacked while they're here."

"Well said." L followed Misa into the darkness. Light unsheathed one of his swords, and kicked the gargoyle as he passed.

The ruin's architecture was completely unlike Nordic ruins inside as well. Rather than a complex series of traps and puzzles, the only apparent chamber was round and massive. Its grey-white granite walls were lined with statues of humans and gargoyles, and a golden chandelier descended from the center of the vaulted ceiling, with its flames still flickering dimly. The red wax of the candles dripped down to the bare stone floor, pooling in a circle that resembled spilled blood.

"Took you long enough."

L didn't hesitate. He drew his sword, and lit it with electricity that illuminated the entire chamber. Beyond stepped forward when the light revealed his presence. "Beyond… does this room have any other exits?"

He laughed, and his red eyes flickered brighter. "Of course not. Do you even know where you are? Until I destroyed the enchantment on the entrance, this was one of the most secure rooms in Tamriel. Dimhollow Crypt… it's a tomb for the oldest and most powerful vampires. Each of the human statues lining these walls are hollow, and contain the ashes of ancient vampires. A living gargoyle is assigned to each one, to guard their masters and the room itself. And, of course, this leaves the question, what are we all doing here?"

L tightened both hands on the hilt of Strunkriid. "You could have stopped when you told me the only exit is behind me, and therefore off-limits to you."

"So you're gonna try and kill me now, huh?" Beyond laughed his inhuman laugh.

L felt the tip of a blade touch the back of his neck. "You're so completely outmatched, I can barely even laugh at it."

_What is this? I was watching him. I never even blinked! _L turned as the blade was pulled away. _He didn't open a portal to teleport… _"How did you do that? And why not just kill me?"

"I'm sure by now you've figured out that I've been here for a year, like you and Light. I knew about your quest to stop Alduin, too. How could I miss it? The Dragonborn's name happens to be Ryuzaki. L suddenly appears in Skyrim. And then you go and make yourself High King. I, however, spent that time getting ready to fight you. As for why I didn't cut your head off… I want to fight you, which means you have to be at my level. Sure, there's plenty I could do here in Tamriel to keep busy, but you… I was raised almost from birth to surpass you in any way I chose. I don't want it to be over so quickly."

L raised Strunkriid, and knocked Beyond's weapon away from his throat. The white blade still glowed and crackled with electricity. Light and Misa saw what was coming when he hefted it over his head, and they dove out of the crypt to escape the danger. L brought his sword down, and let loose the energy. Its light turned the entire crypt white, but when it faded and the thunder stopped rumbling, Beyond was still standing. "That scout wasn't kidding about your lightning attacks." he lifted his own sword, but it wasn't the black katana he had wielded in High Hrothgar. Now it was a black longsword that shone like polished glass.

L glanced to Strunkriid, then back to Beyond's weapon. They were identical in shape. "Where did you get that sword?"

"it's a long story, and it can wait… I was told to keep you out of this room, but I've already failed that. I never much cared for orders and rules, so… come find me when you actually know how to use that sword."

L raised Strunkriid to attack again, but Beyond disappeared, and this time L saw it happen.

"Misa, Light, are you two okay?"

"We're fine." Misa stepped back into view. "So… he got away?"

"He beat me," L answered. "And then he left. He told me he was sent to guard this place, meaning he's definitely with the vampires, but he left. Something is in this room." He held up his sword and stared at his own reflection on the polished white stone. _He has a sword like Strunkriid. How is that possible? This was forged for Talos himself… _his eyes widened in realization. _It was forged for Talos, meaning someone created it. What's to say they only created one? And as for Strunkriid… it converts any amount of magicka into an equal surge of electricity. Shock magic. That leaves fire and frost… I never saw what Beyond used to defend against my lightning, so it could have been either one, but… that leaves a third sword, at least in theory. If it still exists, I have to find it before he does. _

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of stone scraping on stone. He turned to face the sound, and saw Light backing away from a female vampire-statue that was sinking into the floor, revealing a bare granite wall behind it. Light tightened his grip on his swords, but no attack came. Instead, a section of the wall simply crumbled, and a coffin fell out of the concealed alcove. Light caught it, and lowered it gently to the floor. "A coffin?"

_Beyond said this was a tomb for vampires, but… he hinted that cremation was the traditional funeral for vampires… _"Light, get away from it! They only sleep in coffins!"

The ancient wood of the coffin creaked, then shattered. Light stood frozen as the vampire inside got to her feet. She looked around, confused, and the three got a good look at her. She had dimly glowing orange eyes, and light brown hair that came to her shoulders, framing a youthful face that revealed none of the countless centuries she had endured alone in the dark. The statue that had guarded her was an exact stone likeness, down to the red and gold armour she was wearing, replicated in grey rock that was now rising behind her, as though her tomb had never been opened.

L was the one who expected a fight the most, but she tentatively began, "Do you all… understand this language?"

"We understand you just fine," Misa replied, and stepped forward. "Who are you, and how long have you been here?"

"My name is Serana… as for how long I've been here, I… I lost track, but it must have been at least two thousand years. You already know what I am, don't you?"

"A vampire. If you've really been in there for so long, you can't possibly know this, but the vampires of the Fourth Era are looking for you," L answered.

"Fourth Era, you say…" Serana blinked. "And how long has it been since… hm… the Dragon War?"

"You were sealed away here during the Dragon War?" Light asked incredulously.

"When I was sealed here, the Dragon War had been over for about five hundred years." She sighed. "I suppose your next question will be 'why was I sealed here?' I'd rather not talk about it."

Light shrugged. "My next question was going to be 'are you willing to come with us to Fort Dawnguard?'"

She hesitated. "I... see no reason why not, but I need to see my father first. His castle is north of here. Castle Volkihar… have you heard of it?"

"It shouldn't be too hard to find," L replied, and sheathed Strunkriid.

X

"It shouldn't be too hard to find, huh?" Light laughed, and pointed at the castle. He turned to face Serana. "North of here, you said. Well, we're in the ocean north of Solitude, not Dawnstar. We're only a few miles from High Rock!"

"Yes, we are." Serana stepped out of the small boat, and onto the shore of the island. "Which means you have proven that it literally wasn't too hard to find."

Light blinked, then cracked a grin. "You know, I think I'm starting to like you."

She shrugged and started walking toward the castle. "My father will want a word with you three."

L frowned as he looked up at the massive castle. _If this is the lair of the vampires, then Beyond is here somewhere. He's able to deflect my lightning, and teleport faster than I can see… _"Come on, Ryuzaki," Misa called, and he realized they had left him behind. _I'm not thinking about this properly. There are three of us. If it comes to battle, we'll manage. _He followed.

Serana led them through the castle, taking her time to examine the changes throughout its halls. She came to a stop in a dining hall, lit with the warm golden light of a burning hearth. Everyone at the long dining table turned to face the newcomers, and they all had glowing orange eyes like her.

"How fortuitous…" a vampire wearing armour similar to Serana's, and seated at the head of the table, stood and approached. His crimson cape billowed behind him. "I sent a man to retrieve you, and he was cast aside, yet you came by your own bidding. I trust… you have my Elder Scroll?"

"After all these years, that's the first thing you ask of me? Yes, I have the scroll."

"Of course I'm delighted to see you, my daughter. Must I really say the words aloud? Ah, if only your traitor mother were here, I would let her watch this reunion before putting her head on a spike. Now tell me, who are these strangers you have brought into our hall?"

"These are my saviours, the ones who freed me." Serana gestured to Light, then L, then Misa.

"Ah… I see. A Dragonborn cannot resist the promise of reward, as I have heard said of your kind. King Ryuzaki… for my daughter's safe return, you have my gratitude." He smiled with false benevolence. "I am Harkon, lord of this court. By now, my daughter will have told you what we are. Vampires, among the oldest and most powerful in Skyrim. For centuries we lived here, far from the cares of the world. All that ended when my wife betrayed me and stole away that which I valued most."

Light's eyes narrowed when he heard that. He knew deception when he saw it, after all, he had been the original and most successful Kira. It was obvious that Harkon intended himself to sound as though he was talking about Serana, when he had been referring to the Elder Scroll he had yet to reacquire. "And… what happens now?"

"You have done me a great service, and now you must be rewarded. There is but one gift I can give that is equal in value to the Elder Scroll and my daughter. I offer you my blood. Take it, and you will walk as lions among sheep. Men will tremble at your approach, and you will never fear death again."

Harkon's skin tore apart, his armour turned to smoke and drifted away, and he grew while his form was obscured by bats and darkness. Serana watched without any expression, but L, Light and Misa were all shocked as his monstrous form was revealed. "This is the power I offer you all. I am like unto a god in this form."

L scoffed. "I'll pass, but thanks anyway." he turned to leave, and Misa followed, but Light remained where he stood. "Light?"

"Ryuzaki… You trusted me for a year, when I could have killed you." Light turned to face him, his eyes glowing red. "I want you to trust me a little longer."

"You can't be serious… Light…"

Light turned back to face Harkon. "I accept. I want to be like you."

"Good. You are wiser than your friends, child." Harkon lunged forward, and sank his teeth into Light's neck.


	3. Strategy and Deception

L crouched miserably outside Castle Volkihar, with the frigid waves lapping at his toes. Misa was at his side, looking up into the darkened sky. "It's going to rain. We should… head back to Solitude or something." L glanced up at the sky, and nodded imperceptibly. _He said to trust him. I suppose he wanted me to understand his plan… I should be able to, but I can't make sense of it. _"Ryuzaki, I'm serious. Let's get out of here."

L stood, and as he did, thunder rumbled. The sky flashed with lightning, and it began to pour. He mumbled agreement. _I can hear the bells again, but they're faint. The first time, I was expecting a heart attack on Earth, and the next morning, I woke up at Helgen. The next, I was crowned High King and I slew Alduin. What do they mean this time?_

An inhuman shriek shattered L's thoughts, and he looked up in surprise. Perched high up on the rooftops of Castle Volkihar was a bat-winged silhouette. It threw back its head and shrieked again, the sound echoing as it reached L's ears. "Misa, get away from here. Whatever power these things have, it was enough to tempt Light into undeath. I can probably handle a fight with one, but I have Strunkriid, my Voice, and…"

He was cut off when the thing lunged downward, moving too fast for the eye to follow. It came to a stop in front of him, and buried a hand in his hair. Misa screamed as its wings pounded downward, and it rocketed away with L in its grasp.

Disoriented, L couldn't comprehend where he was or what was happening, until he landed facefirst on an ice floe. The vampire howled furiously at the rumbling sky, then cast its gaze back at L, hissing. He stood, unharmed but shocked, and drew his sword. The creature appeared drastically different from Harkon. It had a full head of hair, the colour of dried blood, and its skin was grey-black. Its wings were fully developed like a bat's, and its eyes glowed red, not orange. "_Light_?"

The vampire grinned, and let loose another ear-piercing shriek, glaring at him. Light raised his right hand, and fired a ball of black energy. L sidestepped, and the attack shot past him to explode in the distance. He teleported behind Light, his sword raised over his head. Light snarled, and his body disintegrated into a cloud of bats and smoke. He floated away ten feet and reassembled, facing L. He shrieked again, louder this time, and raised his hands to fire another blast of his Daedric magic.

L teleported into the sky, as lightning flashed behind him. He aimed his lightning spell at Light, and swung his sword to unleash it. The spell took the form of a crescent of lightning, fifty feet long and five feet wide. Light's howl was drowned out by the thunder, but he dodged the attack, and took to the sky as L plummeted. His lightning had shattered the ice, so there was only frigid water beneath him. He teleported to a small chunk of ice that remained, while Light screamed wordlessly in the sky. "Light, what are you doing!?"

His only answer was another attack. Light beat his wings and divebombed L. Still shrieking underwater, Light grasped L by the throat and dragged him to the depths. L kept his grip on Strunkriid, but barely. He expected to drown, but before either of them could, Light turned upward, and shoved them both back into the sky. Castle Volkihar was now no more than a small bulge on the horizon. Light slammed him down onto another ice floe, and stepped on his sword arm. He leaned down, looked L in the eye, and snarled.

"You… didn't… trust me…" Light managed to hiss. "I'm… disappointed."

"Light, why are you doing this?" L held Light's red gaze. "I don't get it."

"Let… the sword… go." L released his grip on Strunkriid, and Light kicked it out of his reach. He stepped away, between L and his sword, and reverted to his human form. He cracked his neck and stretched. "I told you to trust me. Obviously you didn't, because you were seriously trying to kill me back there."

"And you weren't?" L stood, furious but still confused.

"It had to be convincing. Harkon was watching, and now he's not."

L blinked. He turned and saw how far they were from the castle. "You're not…?"

"I'm your inside man now. I can give you information on where the vampires will be, when they'll be there, and what they want. But I had to convince Harkon that I was actually on his side. I said I'd prove it by killing you." to L's disbelief, he laughed. "I guess I did want to fight you, though."

L picked up Strunkriid, and sheathed it slowly. "Yes, I suppose it suits you, Light. This is exactly the kind of strategy you would use. Deceive your opponents, use your allies, and gain more power in the process."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was intended to be one." Light chuckled at that. L added, "The crazy screaming was a nice touch."

"You think so?" he chuckled again. "Uh, one more thing… for this plan to work, you'll have to pretend to be dead for a while. Lay low, don't appear in public. Better yet, use a disguise and keep working with the Dawnguard."

L nodded. "Your genius still surprises me."

"Well, until we caught Higuchi, I was the god of the new world. You could say my intelligence is godlike."

"I thought you had moved past that God complex."

"So did I." Light turned to face Castle Volkihar. "Until I can overpower Harkon, I'm at his mercy. If he finds out you're alive, he'll realize my betrayal and kill me."

"I get it. I'll keep my face hidden, and go back to calling myself L."

"Perfect." Light transformed back to his new, monstrous form, and flew back to the castle. "Wonderful. Just leave me here, then, in the middle of the ocean…"

X

Several hours later, Light was wandering the halls of Castle Volkihar. He had changed out of his Daedric armour, and now wore a lighter set of red and gold armour, similar to Harkon's. As he went, he remembered his days as Kira, and the year he spent fighting the dragons with L. Then, one particular memory came into focus. In Sovngarde, Sithis himself had granted him incredible power, which he had never gotten the chance to truly use. Upon returning to Earth, he had found himself unable to transform into the demonic creature he had been. It was the deciding factor that led him to carry out this plot. _One of my finer moments, really. It took me only a few seconds to form the whole plan, and so far, it's going well. As long as Ryuzaki keeps his head down…_

"Light." Serana approached him from behind. "It's an… ironic name for a vampire, but it seems to fit somehow."

Light shrugged. "I hadn't thought of that." he smiled, and stopped walking. "So, how does it feel to be home after so many thousand years?"

Serana looked around. They were the only ones in the hall, but she knew her father well enough to expect spies in the walls. "Light, I need to talk to you. Alone."

"No problem. Where should we go?"

"My chambers." she led him through the castle, using her supernatural hearing to listen for the breath of a spy. "If we whisper, they won't hear us in this hall… I know you intend to betray my father."

Light blinked. "I… I thought I had a good plan. How did you figure me out? Does Harkon know?"

"Of course not. I only discovered your plan because my father sent me to watch you kill the King. I told him you drank Ryuzaki dry, and threw his body into the sea."

"Why? Why help me?"

"Because my father intends to sacrifice me and use my blood to blot out the sun." Light's eyes widened, and she continued. "The ritual requires three Elder Scrolls, and my father is under the impression he only needs two. I have the Sun Scroll, Ryuzaki apparently has the Dragon Scroll… but I'm not certain where the Blood Scroll is. My mother took it."

"So you're against him as well."

"Not openly. My father is undoubtedly the most powerful vampire in Tamriel. Alone, I can do nothing but scheme… but you mentioned a Fort Dawnguard. Am I wrong to assume that you were sent from it to retrieve me before the vampires did?"

"Technically, we didn't know what we were looking for, but…"

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that there are others who oppose my father, besides you and me. Together we can stop him."

"Do you really believe that, guys?" Light and Serana both jumped, and turned to face the newcomer. Beyond Birthday approached in absolute silence. "Relax, I'm not gonna rat you guys out. At the very least, it'll be fun to watch. So, Light, you didn't kill L after all. I'm glad to hear that."

"Damn it, Beyond, quiet!" Serana hissed.

"They can't hear us. I soundproofed this entire hallway with magic." Beyond chuckled. "Now, don't get the wrong idea, I'm not on your side. I'm just going to enjoy the show, until I see fit to attack L again." He chuckled and kept walking. "Make sure to give me a good performance."

Light laughed. "You know, he reminds me of an old friend of mine."

X

Fort Dawnguard's inhabitants were surrounded and screaming in the night. They were all but invisible in black robes and armed with ebony weapons. Isran smashed one's skull with a hammer, but when he turned to his right, another stood ten feet away, with a Daedric bow in hand, and an arrow aimed at his head. He took a moment to weigh his chances of surviving, but before he could make a move, the archer turned and shot another vampire.

Isran's eyes widened, as the archer stepped back and vanished into the shadows. He turned back to the battle, and saw two other black-cloaked figures fighting. One was at least six feet tall and armed with an ebony greatsword. The other was a foot shorter and wielding a thin longsword of the same metal. The taller one swung his sword, but his target ducked and rolled past him. Misa's hood fell off as she sliced clean through the vampire's torso. Cut in two, the body crumpled, and three other vampires surrounded Misa.

Brilliant white light suddenly filled the air, and when Isran's eyes adjusted to it, he saw there were dozens of floating spheres of magelight over the battle. The vampires retreated away from the Dawnguard and Misa, leaving one black-hooded archer to stand alone. His face was covered by a scarf under the hood, but the vampires didn't have time to notice before he dropped the bow and held out his arms. Twin streams of flame gushed from within his sleeves, and he aimed them at the vampires, who fled into the safety of darkness.

Isran lowered his hammer, and took in the sight of the massive wall of flame that had saved the Dawnguard. "Thank you," he managed to say as the mage turned to face him.

The answer that came was distorted, not a wholly human voice. "To my understanding, you were warned of this attack and its imminence…" Misa glanced at L, being only one who knew who he was under his disguise. "The situation here is dire, that much I can see. At this point, the vampires have you cornered. You have no leads, you're hopelessly outnumbered, and I've seen the power they have."

"Look, I'm well aware of the power a vampire has…"

"From this point on, you are aware of nothing beyond the walls of this fortress. The Dragonborn is dead by their hands. Kaal se Sithis, Light Yagami, is now a vampire. Their leaders can transform into Daedric creatures, the likes of which I have never seen elsewhere. Were you aware of that?"

Isran gulped. "Dead? Ryuzaki… is dead?"

"Slain in battle. Think of me as his replacement. You may call me L."

Isran coughed from the smoke rising off L's flames. "I thought you were a detective, for Stendarr's sake!"

"Unfortunately, this case requires a more direct approach." L hung his bow on his back, and waved a hand at the flames, which vanished immediately. "There's more to this situation. In addition to Ryuzaki's killer, the vampires have an ally calling himself Beyond, who is apparently more powerful than a Dragonborn. I haven't been able to determine exactly what his abilities are, but he is a priority target."

"Who killed Ryuzaki, anyway? I need to know who has that kind of power."

"He calls himself Lord Harkon. As for Light Yagami, I've been able to contact him. He claims to be working under deep cover. He says he and Ryuzaki found what the vampires were looking for in Dimhollow Crypt, an ancient vampire named Serana. He'll be keeping me informed on Harkon's plans."

"Harkon… I've heard of him. He leads the Volkihar Clan, and he's powerful, but I didn't know about this transformation." Isran turned and faced the fort. "Come inside, we'll need to discuss this a lot more."

X

Light scowled as he looked around at the burned-down cottage he stood in. "This place… disgusts me. I can practically smell the crime."

Redwater Den wasn't much to look at, just a destroyed cabin in the middle of nowhere, but beneath that cabin, skooma was refined in mass quantities, in ways that made it even more addictive and deadly. Serana sniffed. "In my day, people were satisfied with wine and mead. It smelled like what it was, alcohol. This… it smells like death. Rancid smoke, disease, and filth, a terrible slow death. I pity the wretches beneath us."

"This is the kind of thing I meant when I said the world was rotten. This happens where I come from too." Light looked around again, and spotted two figures in black approaching the ruin. "You guys came!" He called. "I was starting to think you still didn't trust me."

When L arrived, he replied, "To be clear, you want me to help you kill the drug dealers in the caverns beneath us and destroy the stockpiles of narcotics, correct?"

"That's right."

"And as for this Bloodstone Chalice you mentioned… you intend to return it to the Volkihar Clan?"

"If I don't, Harkon will get suspicious, if he doesn't just kill me for my failure. I want to be sure I can kill him before I openly betray him."

"You think he's more powerful than you? I doubt that." L paused to remember how brutally Light had overpowered him in his vampire form. "You're all but unstoppable when you turn into that thing."

"About that," Serana broke in, "What is that creature you become? It's certainly not a true Vampire Lord's form. You have fully developed wings, for one thing."

"That's abnormal?"

"It should be impossible. My father, the most powerful vampire in the world, possesses only rudimentary wings, and he can't achieve true flight. That means you must be something else entirely."

"From the way you say it, it sounds like a good thing," Light said with a grin, and opened the trapdoor that led into Redwater Den. "I'm going to transform once we find the skooma dealers, and see what they think of it." He jumped down into the cave, leaving L, Misa, and Serana behind.

"He says you've known him for a while now," Serana said to L. "Is he always like this?"

"Like what?" he was about to say _bloodthirsty? _but decided it would be inappropriate.

"I'm not sure how to explain it. Personally, I don't enjoy battle and death. I have no problem drinking blood to sustain myself, but I don't take delight in swinging a weapon. Those who enjoy bloodshed aren't often on my good side, but Light… he's different somehow. His company seems far more enjoyable than any of the vampires in my father's clan."

Light coughed and blinked. The skooma den was filled with a repulsive red haze. "It smells even worse down here," he muttered. _Serana was right, this is the smell of a slow, horrible death. _He made his way down the hallway, ignoring the woman behind the counter hawking Redwater skooma, and continued past a dozen small rooms where coughing skooma addicts slumped weakly in their seats. The gate at the end of the door was locked, but Light could smell the blood coming from the rooms beyond. Serana, L and Misa caught up with him as he wrapped his hand around the square lock set into the door.

"Light, what are you doing?" Misa asked, as he braced his foot against the base of the door.

"Trying something new." he ripped the solid iron lock out of the door, leaving the jagged ends of the bars it had been attached to. He kicked open the door. "Breaking and entering."

"Hey!" a guard drew his glass dagger, and approached them. "What do you think you're…" Misa spun and swiftly drew her longsword, gutting the attendant with one stroke. "…doing…" he crumpled and died.

"Move it," L commanded.

Light strolled through the doorway, and turned to face the others. "Stay back and watch." he stepped away from the three, and his red eyes flared to life with an angry glow. His entire body shed black smoke, which coalesced into tiny Daedric batlike creatures. He snarled and hunched forward as his armour dissolved into smoke and wings sprouted from his back. He grew taller as the smoke dissipated, and his facial features became more demonic and bestial. He threw back his head and let loose a feral shriek at the ceiling.

Three vampires armed with broadswords approached from deeper down the tunnel, and Light turned, snarling. "What in Oblivion is this thing?" one yelped.

Light's body dissolved into a cloud of bats which fluttered away and reassembled behind the vampires. With another furious scream, he charged into battle, slashing his opponents apart with only the claws on his hands. He let the bodies collapse, and said proudly to L, "Prey. No more, to me… just food."

Serana watched him turn and flap his wings, flying down the hall at an absurd speed. _So far, he hasn't exhibited any powers a normal Vampire Lord wouldn't have, but his body is drastically different from anything I've seen. It's as though another Daedric influence is distorting Molag Bal's powers. _

She stretched her arms, and turned to L. "Would you mind standing back?" he nodded, and stepped away. "Now, it's been millenia since I last transformed. It's good that I have this chance to practice a little." Her body disassembled and became a flock of Daedric bats, and when she became whole again, she was transformed. L noted the difference in her wings as opposed to Light's, hers were bony spikes without any potential for flight. Whereas Light's skin had become grey-black, hers was green, and her eyes glowed a fiery orange rather than blood-red. "I'm not certain why Light is having difficulty talking in his true form, but I'm open to giving him lessons. His self-control is lacking, although I think he does that scream for theatricality." she became a flock of bats again, and flew down the hall after Light.

She found him sinking his teeth into the throat of another vampire, who was already half-dead. He dropped the drained corpse, and turned to face Serana. His eyes widened momentarily as he observed the form she had taken, then he grinned, his teeth red with blood. "Other vampires… blood tastes… dry," he remarked. "Humans are… juicy." he laughed loudly at a joke Serana didn't understand.

"What's so funny about it?"

"An old friend." he laughed again. "Ryuk. I'll… tell you later." he glanced back down the hallway. "I smell blood. Red water…"

"I get it… the Redwater skooma uses blood from the spring in its recipe."

"A waste. We can… use it better," Light answered. He folded his wings behind his back, and held out his right hand in front of himself. A crimson portal opened under his palm, and grew longer and thinner, before fading to reveal one of his Daedric curved swords, at which point the took the weapon and brandished it. "More red water."

Serana blinked, and reached out to touch the blade of the weapon. _That's not an illusion, or a bound weapon. It's certainly not blood magic… it's the same sword he has as a human. _It was then that she noticed the skirt of ragged black chainmail that hung from his waist to his ankles. _A Vampire Lord's armour is generated from its own body. Most of us wear leather or furs, made from our own transformed skin and decorated with a bit of gold from Coldharbour. My father and I are of royal blood, and wear the red and gold armour of the Volkihar… so what is this chainmail? _

Light lowered his sword, and continued through the tunnels on foot, occasionally snarling. The third time he did, Serana asked, "Why do you do that? You scream and snarl and roar like an animal, but you're still thinking clearly. I don't understand why."

"Don't know." Light shrugged, and rustled his wings. "Feels right."

"And you seem to have difficulty talking. Any idea why?"

He took a moment to think on that. "Sabre cat doesn't… talk to deer… before it eats. You're… not a deer… but I'm still… hunting."

She nodded. "That's rather poetic."

"I wonder… if a sabre cat… would agree." He laughed, and she chuckled with him. The peaceful moment was interrupted by a blast of crimson magic aimed at Serana's head. Light leapt into the path of the spell, and caught it with his free left hand. He caught sight of the vampire who had made the attack, and growled in fury. The vampire's glowing orange eyes widened, and he turned to flee, but before he could take a step, Light was already three feet in front of him, with bats fluttering around the two. He screamed, but was silenced as Light grabbed him by the throat and dangled him from it.

He stabbed his Daedric blade into the earth, giving himself a free right hand, which he held in front of the weaker vampire's face. His prey groaned weakly, as his body began to dissolve into ash, starting with the head. Light snarled, and dropped the body once the head was gone. He reached for his sword, but rather than wield it, he sent it back the same way he had summoned it, a blood-red portal that swallowed it up without a trace.

"What was that?" Serana asked with eyes wide. Light made no answer, he simply spread his wings and took off, flying through the tunnels even further. Serana lost sight of him, but after a few seconds, he gave an ear-piercing shriek that told her where he had stopped. She caught up, and found him in battle with an ancient vampire, far more powerful than the ones patrolling the tunnels. Light dodged an ice spear, and backed away to her side, hovering with his wings. "You know, I took this form so I could get familiar with it again," Serana pointed out. "You've killed everything else we ran into, so can I have this one?"

Light nodded. "Your turn." He landed, folded his wings, and transformed back into a human body. Serana floated forward, surrounded in a faint red mist, and her opponent backed away, charging another vampiric spell with both hands. He threw it at Serana, who dodged it easily.

And then, she reached out with her right hand, almost lazily. Venarus Vulpin screamed as he realized what was going on, realized he couldn't move. An aura of hellish red light bloomed around him as he was lifted into the air, and pulled to Serana. "Light, this spell is called Vampiric Grip. It renders the target completely immobile, while draining their life force and feeding it to you. As if that weren't enough…" she grinned at the vampire she had at her mercy, and released the spell, flinging him into a rough stone wall. "Releasing the spell flings the victim with tremendous force. Would you care to try it?"

"Sure." Light stepped forward, and reached as Serana had. Vampiric red light surged from his shoulder to his palm, and he hauled Venarus through the air. "Venarus Vulpin? That seems an unusual name for a Nord."

Serana blinked. _He's using Vampiric Grip in a human form. By itself, that's not so bizarre compared to the rest of his powers, but it's still unusual, and how does he know this vampire's name? _

Venarus began to beg weakly for his life, but Light scowled. "Look around, Vulpin. This skooma den… it was built and is maintained at your command. If it weren't for that, I might have shown mercy. I can fill the Chalice without killing you. You will die, because you did this."

A hand fell on his shoulder. "Light."

He turned and saw L standing behind him. "What's your problem?" he growled, his eyes flashing red.

"If you intend to kill him, get it over with. There's no need to torture him."

"The addicts in this den tortured _themselves _to death! They're _still _doing it! Dying as we speak!"

"But you are Light Yagami, not Venarus Vulpin. If you believe it is wrong for him to do this, why do you do it to him? That's hypocrisy, not justice, although I admit it's easy to make that mistake. An eye for an eye? Do you think that'll work, when you and your enemy have each taken two eyes?"

Light dropped a half-dead Vulpin, and drew one of his swords. He held the point of the blade over the vampire's heart. "Next time you lecture _me _on justice, remember this." he stabbed downward callously, killing Vulpin. "I only listened this once, because you were right. True justice is granting a quick death to those who deserve worse, just so this world doesn't have to put up with them during a slow death."

"That's an interesting way to look at it," L replied with a shrug. _Not something I necessarily agree with, but better than torturing people to death. _Misa entered the room as Serana reverted to a human form, and Light wandered down the hallway away from the three.

He paused, and turned back. "Serana, you should come with me. You and I can both benefit from drinking the Redwater, and we'll need every advantage we can get when it comes time to actually confront your father."

She smirked, and followed. "You embody the word 'devious,' Light Yagami."

"I'll take that as a compliment." he led her to the Redwater Spring, and dipped the Bloodstone Chalice into the bloody water. "Now, I've never said this to anyone before, but I think if anyone deserves to have me warn them of myself, it's you." he paused, giving Serana a moment to wonder what he was talking about.

"You're absolutely right," he continued. "I'm devious. I'm a liar, I'm manipulative, I use people as tools. Sometimes I do that without any real reason other than amusement. I'm not likely to repent for those actions, and I'm very likely to continue them. In case you're wondering, I have not manipulated you, and at the moment, I don't plan to. I'm just letting you know in advance that the thought might one day come into my head."

"One day?" she echoed, finding the phrase odd.

"You and I are both immortal, so we're likely to know each other for a long time. That's plenty of time for me to convince myself I could successfully and productively manipulate you."

"I see…" Serana replied. "So you've decided to warn me about that possibility, something you've never done for anyone else?"

"That about sums it up." He lifted the Chalice, brimming with ancient blood. "There's one other reason I gave you that warning, though. I intend to make you like I am. I've been given the wonderful power of vampirism, but I can't bring myself to feel indebted to Harkon. Instead, I'm grateful to you, so in return for vampirism, I offer you the power of a cunning and deceitful mind."

Serana hesitated briefly, then smirked. "I… accept your offer," she said with a laugh.

"Fantastic," Light replied, grinning. "Well then…" He held out the Chalice. "Here's to an eternity of completely outwitting the rest of Tamriel. I guarantee we'll pull it off."

And they drank.

X

L and Misa patiently waited for them to return, and after a few minutes, they did. "Welcome back," L began, and continued to Light, "Now, I must confess that I have my own reasons for agreeing to destroy this place."

"Hold on." Light turned to Serana with a grin. "Watch this." He turned back to L. "You plan to destroy the skooma with Strunkriid, which you secretly brought. That way, I can report to Harkon that Ryuzaki is dead, but someone found his sword, and has decided to ally himself with the Dawnguard. From then on, you'll be able to use it without blowing your cover."

L nodded, and Serana whistled. "You weren't kidding," she observed. "To be honest, I wasn't quite sure you were serious."

"A mind can be made sharper than any blade, Serana. If you wield such a weapon properly, armies disintegrate before you."

"I'm looking forward to seeing that one," she replied.

"All in good time." he turned back to L. "Serana, Misa, and I will get out of the caves and out of your way, so you won't fry us."

"You're actually worried about that?" L asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course I am. You've never used Strunkriid in a confined space, right?"

L sighed. "Your lack of faith in me is appalling, Light-kun."

"But well-founded."

"A less intelligent man would call you a coward."

"A less intelligent man would fall for that."

"Touché."

"So, I'm getting above ground. Anyone care to come with me?"

Serana followed. Misa did not. L noticed. As he began turning skooma to harmless dust with shock magic, he asked her, "Why didn't you follow them?"

"Because I don't have an appalling lack of faith in you."

He nodded at that, with a faint smile. "Thank you."

X

Light and Serana stood above ground under bright sunlight, wearing their hoods up as shields. They were not the only ones. Two other vampires stood in their way, as L's lightning rumbled in the tunnels below. With his shinigami eyes, he read their names as Stalf, a male Nord, and Salonia, a female Imperial. "Do I know you two?" Light asked patiently.

"We're in Harkon's court," Stalf replied with a hint of exasperation. "Well, until such time as it ceases to be _Harkon's_ court."

"Oh, I see." Light smirked. "You're plotting against Harkon too? Delightful. I can't help but feel we could get along."

That gave the vampires a reason to hesitate, but once they had, Salonia replied, "Too late. Had you allied yourself with Orthjolf before this, you might have survived this meeting."

"Well, you're certainly dumber than most of my other enemies. Particularly for an immortal," Light answered with a perfectly amiable smile. "You just told me who your employer is, idiot. What if I get it into my head that competition is bad, and decide to kill Orthjolf?"

"Well…" Salonia took a moment to think, but being stupid, couldn't think of anything clever. "I suppose we'll be dead, and it wouldn't be our concern…"

"Yes, that's right! You'll be dead! And you're rather optimistic about it, too." Light drew his sword.

"How primitive," Stalf noted. "A sword against two Volkihar vampires? That's idiocy."

"Really?" Light pulled back and threw his sword, which struck Salonia in the chest, killing her. "Do you still think so?"

Stalf stepped back. "That was unwise," he said carefully.

"You're one to talk about _unwise_, you drooling simpleton."

"Is there any point to you insulting me?" Stalf asked in a tone of anger.

"Absolutely. I'm trying to make Serana laugh before I kill you." Serana, who had been trying not to grin, actually did giggle at that. _Just as planned, _Light thought."Now, I'd love to spare your life, just on a whim, but unfortunately, you know about our plot against Harkon, minus the details. Loose ends and all that."

"Says the man with no weapon."

"Like I said, _drooling simpleton_. I'm carrying a second sword, and I'm a vampire, not a man." With that, Light shifted into his mutated true form. Not wasting time on an insane shriek as he usually did, he lunged forward as he transformed, and sank his teeth into Stalf's neck. He let the dead, drained vampire fall to the ground, changed back into his human form, and wiped his mouth. "Honestly, I'm a little surprised I got you to laugh."

Serana looked back to the two vampires. "You weren't kidding about armies disintegrating in front of you, I see. Those two might have actually injured you, if you hadn't tricked them into a war of insults. How'd you know they would fall for it?"

"They weren't just stupid, they were overly proud. The sort of people who'd want to win the battle of insults, rather than simply trying to kill me. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure your father's the same way."

"He's proud, yes, but not stupid. One has to be both, in order to fall for that."

"I have more tricks up my sleeve than that," Light replied with a smirk. "In fact, here's one that might work on Harkon: _Frustration can make smart people act stupid._"

"Your plan is to annoy my father to death? I don't think even you could manage that."

"Anyone else would see that as a challenge," Light answered slyly.

"A less intelligent man would fall for that," Serana echoed his words. "You weren't just being witty when you said that, it was intended as a lesson, wasn't it?"

Light nodded. "The worst thing you can do is let your opponent trick you into an emotion. Any emotion is bad when you show it to an enemy. That's the lesson."

Serana considered asking him whether she would be tested on that lesson, but she knew what he would say: _If you were, you would have failed by asking. _"And the next lesson," she deduced, "is never to ask your enemy a question. Because then he knows you don't have the answer."

"Very good. I had planned for you to ask me about tests just now, which means you correctly guessed that you were already being tested." he grinned. "This is going well already."


	4. Blood, Blade, Fire

_Night was meant to be a time of happiness. _

Harkon scowled down at the report left by Light Yagami, detailing not only treason within his court, but a completely new threat as well, calling himself L and wielding the High King's sword. _Why, then, am I given these troubles at sunset? _He sighed. _Better now, I suppose, then when I am already bitter. _He had put Orthjolf to death immediately for his betrayal, and drank from the Bloodstone Chalice as he stood over the traitor's corpse. That much was dealt with, but it wasn't quite that simple. If Orthjolf had formed a conspiracy, there could be other vampires in his court continuing the plan. Or, there could have been other conspiracies, even ones that competed with each other.

"Serana," he growled, "Wherever you've been keeping the Elder Scroll, get it, and find a Moth Priest to read it. Take Light Yagami, perhaps Beyond, but no one else. I can't trust the rest of my court any longer." She silently nodded, and left the throne room. He tossed aside the parchment that was covered in Light's perfectionist handwriting, then slumped deeper into his throne.

A white light burst into life six feet in front of him, and took the shape of L's insignia. Harkon's eyes narrowed, and a distorted, synthesized voice began to speak. "Hello, Harkon. I believe you've heard of me."

"This is my castle. I will be addressed as Lord Harkon within it," he replied calmly, not wasting his anger on someone he couldn't even see.

"Lord Harkon, then. As I'm sure you can guess, I am L."

"I did guess. Why are you interfering in my work?"

"You ordered the slaughter of the Vigil of Stendarr. You had Rue Ryuzaki assassinated. You intend to blot out the sun. Do I need a better reason?" There was silence for a moment, then L continued. "There is, however, another reason. Within your castle, there is a man named Beyond Birthday, and I have made it my mission to capture and execute him. I'll make you a deal, Lord Harkon. Cast out Beyond Birthday, and I will postpone my judgement on you. By a month, perhaps? That seems fair."

"Beyond is loyal and valuable. You will not have him. Regardless, you are a detective. Your intelligence is not to be denied, but you are no Dragonborn. You are weak compared to the enemies I've defeated in the past few months."

"Not Dragonborn, you say?" There was another pause. "Perhaps we would do well to meet in person."

"I have no intention of leaving my castle to parley with you."

"That's not a problem. We can speak right now." the insignia fell silent and vanished, replaced by a dim violet portal, out of which stepped a figure in black, from head to toe. His robes were loose and flowing, with a hood that shadowed the top half of his face. The lower half was wrapped in a black scarf.

Harkon stood. "I should kill you right now!" he roared. "I should!"

"But you won't. So, sit down, before I Shout you back into that throne."

"Shout?" Harkon echoed. "You expect me to believe that?"

"FUS RO DAH!"

Harkon watched with eyes wide in horror, as the walls of his throne room cracked and groaned. The ceiling took most of the damage, as it was there L aimed his Voice. Dust and fragments of ancient stone tumbled down, briefly obscuring him. When it cleared, L was gone, but his voice remained. "My offer stands. If Beyond Birthday is exiled from Castle Volkihar, I will give you one extra month to prepare for your doom."

X

L crouched at the end of his bed in the Winking Skeever. Misa lay stretched across it behind him, toying with an ebony dagger fresh from Beirand's forge. She was wearing her dragonscale armour, but not the black cloak she had worn to retake Fort Dawnguard. He was wearing his full black robes, with the hood and scarf pulled down to expose his face. "Come on, Ryuzaki. Talk to me, how'd it go?"

"Harkon won't give up Beyond. It was foolish of me to try."

She shrugged, and he felt the blankets move under his bare feet as she did. "Look at it this way. Since Beyond isn't kicked out of Castle Volkihar, you'll know where to look for him."

"Good point, but I did think of that. I got impatient, and now I'm not thinking very clearly."

She sheathed the dagger as Light and Serana entered the room. "Hey guys," Misa called. Serana waved briefly in reply.

L uncurled from his crouching position, and stood before Light. "What the hell were you doing in Castle Volkihar?" Light demanded. "Are you nuts? Did you want me to fake your death a second time or something?"

"I went there to show Harkon I could Shout, as well as try to lure out Beyond." he shrugged. "What's our next move?"

"You and Misa go to wherever you've stashed your Elder Scroll, and get it. Serana and I are taking her Scroll, to find a Moth Priest who can read them. After that, we have to find the third Scroll."

L nodded. "Once that's done, I can use my magic to contact you. We'll meet at… Sky Haven Temple, I guess."

Without warning, the wall of the inn was torn open, and Beyond Birthday jumped through, wreathed in flame. "I heard you were looking for me!" he cackled and grabbed the front of L's robes before he could respond. He continued to laugh, but L grabbed his wrist and teleported them both outside the city.

L drew Strunkriid in his right hand, and lit it with lightning. Beyond laughed as he drew his own weapon. "You're not hesitating anymore, that's good. Last time, you had no problem fighting me, but you didn't…" he was cut off as a lightning bolt forced him to dodge. "See? You're faster now."

L teleported behind Beyond, who laughed as he spun and swung his black blade. L ducked, and aimed the point of Strunkriid upward, aiming to pierce Beyond's skull, but his foe danced away, and laughed louder. He swung the white blade, launching another arc of lightning. He sheathed his weapon, and teleported into the air behind Beyond, who never heard the sound of his portals opening. "FUS RO DAH!"

They were rocketed apart by the force of the Shout. L was thrown higher, where Beyond hit the ground with bone-crushing force. "YOL TOOR SHUL!" L continued, engulfing him in flame. "FEIM! WULD!" He Shouted himself into the flames, found Beyond, and teleported out to safety before his ethereal form returned to normal. He faced the blaze, which was now close to twenty feet high, and drew Strunkriid to unleash another wave of electricity, which clawed through the fire and found its target.

X

Light and Serana watched the battle unfold, perched atop the city wall as Vampire Lords. "Light, have you ever been hit by that lightning? Do you think that could finish him off?"

"No and no," Light replied quickly. "Look."

Serana turned back to face the flames, and saw a figure stepping out of the blaze toward L. He was still on fire, but he wasn't actually burning. He called out, "Is that your best? You should have kept shooting those things!"

Light was overtaken by sudden, inconsolable terror. He looked down at Beyond, and saw what L had seen in High Hrothgar. He knew what was about to happen, Beyond would kill L, then come after Light and Serana. He would cut through them, laughing gleefully, and then…

Light flew, and summoned his Daedric sword in mid-flight, aiming it at Beyond's head. His target turned, and glared at him.

He was frozen in midair, unable to move, held there. Beyond's smile was gone, and he announced coldly, "That wasn't fair. This particular game is for two players only." He raised a hand, and shoved it at Light, somehow sending him flying back into Solitude. "Now, L, where were we? Oh, yes, I was about to kill you."

L teleported away, and tried desperately to make sense of what he had just seen. _That wasn't any spell I'm familiar with. He didn't consciously block Light's attack, the protection was already in place, presumably from all angles. _

"Wondering how I did that?" L whirled, and backed away, as Beyond continued, "It's my magicka, all of it, saturating the air. Since I don't store it in my body, I can form spells with it even faster, and if my reaction time is good enough, I can solidify it to block incoming attacks. Nobody's yet figured out how to counter it."

L teleported away, and raised his sword. _Now that I know what to look for, I can sense it… the air around him is full of magicka. I can only think of one way to get past a defense like that. _He brought his sword down, and Beyond expected another lightning attack, but it never came. Instead, deafening thunder shook the earth, and both of them were left with their ears ringing. He raised the sword a second time, and fired a blast of electricity ten feet wide. It tore up the ground as it passed, and slammed into Beyond's defenses. He held out a hand to guide his magicka, but by then, other attacks were already coming from all sides, which he noticed too late, since he couldn't hear them coming. He looked up, and saw L sending another attack from above.

The walls of shock magic converged around him at once, and L lost sight of him as he reappeared on the ground. _He might not be dead from that, but if my theory is correct, he was at least struck by it. __If he did survive, I'll need to try a new kind of attack. _L sheathed his sword, and reached for the Daedric bow on his back.

X

"…can you hear me? Light?"

He opened his eyes, and groaned. Serana was crouching at his side, using healing magic in an attempt to wake him. "Where are we?"

"We're in the courtyard of the Blue Palace. L's lightning stopped flashing around a minute ago, and there's no more thunder."

He sat up. "We have to see what's going on. If he's won, fine, but if the thunder stopped because he lost, we need to stop Beyond from killing him, if at all possible." He climbed to his feet, and nearly collapsed from the pain in his skull. "Damn…" he shook it off, and followed Serana to the gates. He pushed them open, and took in the scene.

L had his bow aimed at a pillar of thick smoke which crackled with electricity, and Beyond was apparently inside. The Daedric arrow on L's string was shining white. "He's using his bow. That's a big deal."

"Why?" Serana asked, confused. "Isn't Strunkriid his most powerful weapon?"

"Technically, yeah," Light explained, and sat down, dizzy. "But he's had much more experience with a bow, and he favours ranged attacks. When he first got Strunkriid, his lightning attacks were attached to the blade, but now he throws as much electricity as he can at once, as a projectile. With his bow, he can use spells that are almost as powerful, but faster and more accurate. The only reason he doesn't do it all the time is because Strunkriid is way more efficient. He can use less magicka for a more powerful spell."

The smoke drifted away, and Beyond was revealed, still alight with thin arcs of blue electricity. He stepped forward, his grin completely gone, and drew his sword. L released the arrow, and Beyond stepped aside, just in time. The arrow shot past, and exploded in the distance. Spikes of ice thirty feet long extended from the point of impact, in all directions. Beyond glanced back, and saw the ice, but when he turned back, L already had another arrow ready.

"The weapon I've been using against you is incredibly powerful, but not focused. It's a thrown mass of energy, and I simply don't have the experience to change that. So, I'll still to what I know, that being a true projectile. A weapon that is fired, not flung."

L smirked, and continued. "The cloud of magicka surrounding you had no effect on my arrow. I expect that means it was moving too fast. Regardless of why, it simply means I now have a weapon you have to dodge. A weapon you actually fear." he paused. "How does it feel, to be on the receiving end of fear for once?" Beyond snarled, and disappeared. L eased the tension from his bow, and reabsorbed his magicka, then slumped forward. "Are you two all right?" He called.

"We're fine," Light answered. "He threw me across the city, but I think I can walk it off." He laughed quietly. "You scared him off, though."

"No, he could have killed me at any time before I thought of my bow. I don't expect him to fall for my trick with Strunkriid's thunder more than once, so I need to be ready for next time." L's bow dangled from his limp grasp. "He was faster than any human being should be… I figured it out, Light. He wasn't teleporting at all. He was moving about ten times faster than a Whirlwind Sprint. I don't know how he managed it, or how he avoided breaking every bone in his body as he moved, but I think it has something to do with allowing his magicka to float around his body."

He hung the weapon on his back, next to the quiver of Daedric arrows. "I'm normally able to absorb ambient magicka from the air. It's how I got my powers back after Alduin defeated me, but Beyond is different. He maintains complete control over his magicka, as though it were in his body, or being used in a spell. I can't take it away from him."

"But you did chase him away." Misa stepped through the gates, and gestured to where Beyond had stood. "That was just you, but with all four of us, or even just two at once, we could win."

X

L stood atop the College of Winterhold, and looked down on the almost-rebuilt school below. He had revealed his identity to Savos Aren and requested use of his training area. The snowy wind caught his hair and his robes, and tried to carry them as they continued east. He blinked the hair from his eyes, and frowned in the night.

He had fought here more than once. He had destroyed the iron gates on his first arrival when the sealed College had been under attack from a dragon, and then nearly brought down the entire College when he fought another dragon beneath the courtyard. It was here he had mastered the Thu'um, and met Kahliivnin. When he was half-dead and crippled from Alduin's evil Voice, he had come here and been healed. He had rallied the students and taken back the College from a small army of occupying Thalmor.

And within two months, he would be a teacher here. Compared to what he had been through, it was easier to deal with, but still, it felt surreal. _The last time I taught was at Wammy's House… and now… one of my best pupils died, and the other is trying to kill me. _He sighed. _I failed my successors. All of them, except perhaps Near. And even he paid for my failure. He can't connect as a human being, he just sits with his toys and solves cases while he plays. It's my fault none of them will have a normal life. And now I have to actually kill Beyond…_

He turned north, and drew his bow and an arrow simultaneously. He nocked the arrow, pulled back the string, and wrapped the arrow in his magicka. He let it fly.

"Ryuzaki?" Misa stepped outside onto the roof, holding a folded letter.

L lowered his weapon. "I'm still disguised as L, but I doubt anyone's eavesdropping…" he glanced at the letter. "It's bad news, isn't it?"

She sighed. "Pretty bad. Jarl Balgruuf sent a hawk carrying it." She handed it to him.

"I hadn't heard of that custom. I assume it's for emergencies…" He unfolded the letter, and winced slightly.

_L, I hope I'm right about who you really are. I hope you didn't come by the High King's sword by some fluke, because Whiterun needs your aid. A bandit legion has gathered outside my walls. We are besieged from all sides, and they have almost knocked down the gates as I write. Their leader is already here in Dragonsreach, slaying my guards one by one. _

He read the letter, then crumpled it and dropped it at his feet. "Balgruuf didn't put a date on this letter, so it may have been sent hours ago, or days ago. We have to go, right now."

"It'll take weeks to get there, even if we take horses or a carriage."

"We can be there before sunrise if we go by dragonback. OD AH VIING!"

Misa's eyes widened as a roar answered in the distance. "A dragon?" L nodded, and she tried to suppress her grin as a shadow appeared through the snowstorm. It was lit by the blue magelight pillars of the College, as it landed atop the Arch-Mage's training ground.

"Drem yol lok, Dovahkiin. Why have you called me here?" Odahviing rumbled.

"Drem yol lok, Odahviing. I have called you because I understand Kahliivnin is busy as leader of the Dov. We need to fly to Whiterun."

Misa continued to stare up at Odahviing in awe, unable to think of anything to say. "Aam… I can oblige." Odahviing lowered his head closer to the stone roof, then glanced at Misa. "Who is this? I do not recognize her, and I hear no Voice in her throat." He paused, and took a closer look at her. "Krosis, kiir. Apologies, child, I was wrong. Your Thu'um is dormant and weak, but you may one day wield it."

"Misa has the Voice?" L asked in disbelief. "Is she Dovahkiin, then?"

Odahviing remained silent for a moment, listening. "Not as you are, no. She is different, more human and less Dovah. If she has a purpose, as you did, it is different. She is not dovahkriid, not a dragonslayer."

L sighed. "We can deal with this later. Misa, if you have a Voice, I'll teach you to use it, but not tonight." He climbed up onto Odahviing's shoulders, and beckoned Misa to follow.

She seated herself behind L, and finally managed a sentence. "This is so freaking awesome."

X

Dragonsreach was completely silent. Where once its torches had shone with warm and radiant light, now it was dark. The Jarl's throne, however, was not empty.

An arrow flew down from the sky, and pierced the heart of a fur-clad bandit outside the castle's gate. His five allies reached for their weapons and ducked behind the little cover available. It did them no good when Odahviing landed in front of the palace, cracking the cobblestones beneath his claws. He roared, and the black-cloaked archer on his back released another arrow, taking a second bandit in the skull. L stumbled slightly as Odahviing arched his back, and Shouted, "FO KRAH DIIN!"

The wooden bridge to the gate was vulnerable to fire, and collateral damage was pointless. The frost brought the remaining four bandits to their knees, and L finished those who survived.

Odahviing watched as L kicked open the doors, and fired a glowing white arrow into the gloom. It struck the wall above Jarl Balgruuf's throne, and lit the entire hall with magelight. L drew a second arrow, and turned, but too slowly. Beyond grabbed the ebony arrowhead, and glared into the shadows of L's cowl.

"Well, here we are." he grabbed the front of the Daedric bow, and ripped it from the hands of its wielder. Balgruuf watched in disbelief, tied to his throne and gagged. Beyond drew his black sword, and raised it against his unarmed foe's throat. "Honestly, I thought my little trick would work better, leaving Balgruuf on his throne. I expected you to put an arrow in his chest, thinking he was me."

L made no answer, so Beyond continued, "I notice you're not carrying your white sword… Why is that, I wonder?" Still no answer. "Aside from the fact you're here, at my mercy, this was a well-made plan. You wanna know how I can see through it?" He grinned, and L blinked. "Your eyes are visible through that mask. Everything else is covered, but not your eyes. Since when does L Lawliet have golden brown eyes?"

He reached forward with his left hand, and pulled down Misa's hood. As the scarf over her lower face fell away, Beyond saw she was smirking. "I told Ryuzaki I could handle this. He gave me his bow, and told me he believed me."

"So it turns out you were both wrong." Beyond laughed.

"You'd be surprised."

His crimson eyes widened, and he turned to his left, facing Ryuzaki but still holding his blade against Misa's neck. "How the hell did you get in here?"

Ryuzaki was dressed in the same black cloak as Misa, but he was wearing it over ordinary clothes. Strunkriid hung from his hip on a belt of wool. He wielded a dimly glowing Bound Bow, and an arrow of the same ethereal light was nocked and pulled back, the head aimed at Beyond's throat. "I can't move at the same speed as you, if that's what you're wondering." he pulled the string back a little further. "If you make any sudden moves, this arrow _will _hit you. Step away from her."

Beyond's grin returned, but he lowered his sword and stood back. "Now, this is the L I grew up to fight. This is the real L. I was wondering what happened to you here."

"I settled into using brute force as my only tactic. It was effective enough, and you'll find out why if you don't cooperate. Drop the sword." Beyond did as he was told. "Good. Now-" L cut himself off, and loosed his arrow, but Beyond had already fled.

"I can't believe that worked so perfectly." Misa stooped to pick up the black-and-red bow. "You want this back yet?"

"Keep it… and this didn't go perfectly. The sword Beyond dropped was fake." L glared down at it. "I can tell just by looking at it, this isn't even ebony. It's steel painted black, so he either wasn't carrying the real thing, or he had it concealed. Perhaps he figured out how to teleport objects, and that was his plan, but I can't say which is true."

He stepped over the weapon, toward the door. _I probably can't use Strunkriid here without destroying buildings, _he reminded himself. _It shouldn't be a problem, though. Until I figure out how to use Strunkriid properly, it won't be of any use in a battle I can't win with a bow and arrow. _

He stepped outside, but jumped back when Beyond appeared at the other end of the bridge. His crimson eyes were narrowed, and his grin was gone. "What now? I can still dodge your arrows."

L's hands were at his sides, he didn't have enough time to ready an arrow. He dropped the bow, and it faded out of Mundus, back into Oblivion. "I'll be honest, BB," he began, using Beyond's childhood nickname, "I intend to kill you. But… it shouldn't be done here. There are people all around us, innocent civilians who have nothing to do with the two of us."

"Screw that." Beyond glared at him. "You wanna fight me without collateral damage? Take one shot at me, with that bow. If you don't draw blood, we fight on my terms."

"Your terms?" L summoned his bow again, and aimed it at Beyond as he nocked an arrow. "I think you're missing something, Beyond. Even if you survive my arrow, when I have time to pour all of my power into it, you can't actually force me to draw my sword."

He drew back the arrow, and purple-tinged lightning began to crackle along the shaft. Arcs of lightning danced away from the arrow, roaring with thunder.

Beyond stared back at the arrowhead, and replied, "You hate to lose. That means you'll want to win fair and square. You won't break the rules if you've already agreed to them."

L sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that. It means you still look up to me in some small way."

He let the arrow fly.

Misa stepped into the sunlight behind him as he did, and gasped in shock with him as Beyond snatched the arrow out of the air, grinning. He examined the crackling bolt of lightning caught in his fist, and chuckled dryly. "Quite the opposite. I pity your stupidity and predictability." L's bow shattered into transparent purple fragments, which tinkled like shards of glass as they hit the wood at his feet. "Now… draw your sword."

L reached toward his hip, and Strunkriid hissed as it slid from its white sheath. He held it in a typical one-handed battle stance. Beyond leapt forward, faster than L could consciously see, but he managed to block the incoming black blade without realizing what he had been afraid of.

"Is that fear in your eyes? Again?" Beyond's grin lessened. "I had been ready for disappointment when I lured you here, but this is just pathetic." He pushed forward. "It's about time I ended this, but I want you to make it entertaining for me before I kill you."

The pressure on Strunkriid vanished without warning, as did Beyond, and L heard a scream of agony behind him. He turned, and saw Beyond grinning from ear to ear, with Misa impaled on his sword. He twisted the blade ever so slightly, drawing another scream from her, then he planted his foot on her belly and shoved her off of the sword. She crumpled backward onto the bridge.

L let Strunkriid fall from his limp fingers, and Beyond turned to face him. "You dropped your sword… does that mean you surrender?" he asked mockingly.

His only answer was a roar of blind fury. The city beneath their feet trembled at L's Voice, and the sky above Whiterun darkened ominously. Unnatural thunder rumbled, and hellish fireballs began to rain down on the city. Beyond glanced up, then back at L, his grin completely gone. His eyes were wide, and he subconsciously stepped away, but it was too late.

L's hand wrapped around his throat, and he blinked in surprise. When he opened his eyes, he and L were both hovering over Jorrvaskr, and the momentum caught up with him. The air was ripped from his lungs, and he choked, unable to hear L's snarl as he threw Beyond downward with all of his unnatural might.

At the last second, Beyond formed a rudimentary shield with his magicka, saving his own life as he shot through the roof of Jorrvaskr, which caved in from the impact. As quickly as he could, he got to his feet and began to run. _It's a fluke, _he thought to himself, _it has to be! He just caught me off-guard! _He prayed he was right, as he threw open the doors of Jorrvaskr, and narrowly dodged a fireball from above, which would almost certainly have done no damage. He looked back at L, still floating somehow over the destroyed Hall of Companions, and jumped from the walls of Whiterun.

X

Misa woke with a gasp, having woken from a horrific nightmare. Beyond had been standing over her, grinning down at the dagger in her chest. He had been laughing, she had been screaming, but just before she woke, the dream went soothingly silent, and Beyond vanished in flames.

She sat up, noticing she had been wrapped in fur blankets. The black robes she had been wearing were gone, and the dragonscale vest underneath had been cut open over her belly. She gingerly touched the freshly healed scar just above her navel, expecting pain that didn't come.

She looked around, and stood. She was alone in a cave about twenty feet high, and the walls were lined with cave paintings of mammoths and fire. She glanced outside, and saw a ten-foot-tall bonfire, quenched by the pouring rain. Lightning flashed, and as the camp outside was briefly lit by it, Misa made eye contact with a giant, seated miserably in the rain.

She yelped, and stepped back. The giant raised an eyebrow, then rested its chin on its palm. She noticed that the creature was somehow dry, despite the storm, but she didn't bother to wonder why. She found her swordbelt, and buckled it on, then moved toward the entrance. The giant glanced at her again, grunted in acceptance, and went back to its resting position. She stepped outside, shivering at the sudden cold of the rain.

"Good morning." She spun, and saw L standing above the cave entrance, soaked. "How are you feeling?"

"Morning," she replied numbly. "I feel pretty good, if I got this scar where I think I did." she fingered the ridge on her skin, still expecting the searing pain of the wound to return at the slightest touch. "Where are we?"

"Bleakwind Basin. A camp belonging to the giant behind you. You've been unconscious for almost three days." L brushed the drenched hair from his eyes, and jumped down to meet her. "I carried you out of Whiterun, since the bandits still held the city. Your condition worsened yesterday morning, since all I had to heal you was a Shout I haven't truly learned. It wasn't enough, so I went back to Whiterun and recovered the arrow containing my magicka, then healed you."

"I was out for three days?" she asked incredulously.

"I assume you were in shock." he glanced down at the scar. "Does it hurt?"

"Not at all." she smiled slightly, then remembered something. "Last thing I remember, it looked like the sky was on fire or something… did I dream that, or did you do something?"

He looked away. "I… lost control. I didn't even mean to Shout, I just _roared_… but…"

Misa blinked. "You? Lost control? What, did he mind-control you or something? You did mention something about Illusion spells…"

He faced her, and cut her off. "He _impaled_ you, Misa. He put a sword _through _you, then he looked at me and smiled." he turned away again, and muttered, "He was proud of it."

Misa's eyes widened as the words left his lips. "You went berserk, because he attacked me? And you've been in countless battles with Light, but you've never lost it when he got hurt?"

"If someone were to impale Light, I would tear them limb from limb, but I would do so with absolute calm and composure." _What I intend to do to Beyond is far worse. _"But you've healed now, and Odahviing freed Whiterun in my absence. The sooner we can leave this camp…" L nodded toward the giant, "and give this poor fellow his home back, the better. We should fly with Odahviing to Sky Haven Temple. They found the Moth Priest, and led him to the Blades for his safety. According to the message Light sent me, the Volkihar captured him, and are trying to do it again."

Misa nodded. "Thank you. For saving my life, I mean." She turned, and looked closer at the giant. The rain was hitting an invisible ward above his head, and spilling down around him. "Ryuzaki, did you trap him in there?"

This immediately snapped L out of his thoughts. "Sorry," he replied quickly, and waved a hand to dissolve the barrier. "The three times I tried to reason with him, he just yelled and swung his club! You needed a warm place to sleep, and he wouldn't share, so…" he gestured for the giant to take back his home, and repeated, "Sorry." The giant grunted in anger, but knew better than to attack again, after having been confined for two days. "He used to have more room, but when the storm hit, the rain leaked through the ward, so I applied more magical power to a smaller area."

"Okay, one other question… why have you been standing out here in the rain, when you could have sat in the cave or under a ward?"

"I like the rain." he shrugged. "I tried sleeping, but I couldn't, so I came out here." he reached into the enchanted pouch hanging on his belt, and withdrew a scroll, which he unfurled and handed to Misa.

She examined the foreign markings, and was startled to find she could read them without trouble. "Fus ro dah?" she read the first three words aloud, and a breeze from her throat shook the parchment. "What does it mean?"

"Force, balance, push. They're Rotmulaag, Words of Power for a Shout. Next time Beyond comes at you with a sword, I want you to be capable of breaking every bone in his body. With this, you'll be able to."


	5. Sorry

This is not a chapter.

My basement flooded, and my computer was in my basement. In theory, my family should be getting insurance money to fix the basement and everything that was damaged, but for the meantime, I don't have a computer. I'm writing this on a computer at my school, but I don't have access to MS Word at home, which has effectively put my Muse in a coma.

My parents tell me the insurance claim shouldn't take more than a few weeks, so I might not be gone for very long, but still, the next chapter is gonna take a while. Sorry, everybody.


	6. Just as Planned

A/N: I'm really sorry this took so damn long. Even after I got this new computer, I've been doing anything but writing. In particular, I played through Skyrim, for maybe the seventh time, and took over the world with soul-crushing ruthlessness in Civilization V, which took me four days. But, I'm back now, so thanks for waiting. A character from another manga/anime makes a cameo in this chapter, since I watched and loved said anime during the time it took me to write this chapter. However, he's from a rather gruesome manga and he gets into a rather gruesome fight with Light (by my writing standards), so consider this chapter closer to M-rated.

Oh, and I graduated with honors from high school yesterday.

X

"…So, I had the notebook, but if I let it go, I'd lose all of my memories as Kira. I had to kill Higuchi, without removing at least one hand from the notebook, and at the same time, Ryuzaki couldn't see me writing."

"How did you do it?" Serana asked, fascinated.

"Before I gave the Death Notes back to Ryuk and Rem, I tore a piece out of one, and put it inside a secret compartment in my watch." he pushed up the sleeve of his Volkihar armour, and showed her the watch. "there was a needle with it, so I could write with my own blood. Ryuzaki was watching Rem while I wrote."

"So you had it all planned out? And that actually worked…"

"I hadn't known I would scream when my memories returned, but Ryuzaki had thought it was because I was afraid of the shinigami. Imagine a year of thoughts and memories being shoved back into your head at once. It hurt. Anyway, the next step was to reawaken Misa as the Second Kira. She would resume killing criminals in my place, and L would be forced to test the notebook. He'd want evidence that I had faked a rule in the Death Note, saying that the user had to write names once every thirteen days, or die."

"If he found out it was faked, it would incriminate you and Misa, and Rem…" Serana trailed off, eyes wide.

"…Would kill L, sacrificing her own life for Misa. And then, I'd take Rem's Death Note, since my own was in the hands of the task force. L would be dead, Misa and I would be Kira again, and I would be the god of a new world."

"And all of this was planned out, months in advance…" Serana went over the absurdly convoluted story again. "How in Oblivion did you keep track of all that?"

"It was easier in the moment." Light took a deep breath of the crisp night air, just lightly tinged with the smell of smoke. They had crossed the Karth River an hour ago, and now their target was in sight: Forbears' Holdout, the lair of a vampire coven. Deep within, a Moth Priest named Dexion Evicus was imprisoned and surrounded by enemies.

"So, what's the plan?" She asked, nodding to the open cave entrance. "We could just walk in and kill them, but I want to see you think your way around this."

Light smirked. "Hardly a challenge." he glanced at the entrance. "A coven powerful enough to hold such a large cave, so close to Dragon Bridge, is obviously smart enough to post sentries at the conveniently open entrance. If it were me, I'd have those sentries hidden, shrouded in darkness like a vampire should be. That way, they'd have to fire off something like a glowing Destruction spell to reveal their location. Naturally, they'll be using bows, since they draw much less attention. Now, that's not a threat to us, more of a bother, but…"

"Go on," she urged.

"We'll lure them out of their hiding spots, and strike them down silently as soon as we see them. Then, further in, there'll be more security. It's likely that it won't be more guards. Their main force should be gathered in the lair itself. Instead, the hall's guarded with a trap that drops boulders on anyone who trips the wire, I guarantee it. I've seen these things a few times, mostly in Nordic tombs and bandit hideouts… so, how are you with magic?"

"I'm one of the oldest, most powerful vampires in the world, Light. What mortals call 'Master Illusion spells' are child's play to me."

"Good. You're gonna use an illusion, make it look like that trap has already sprung. If you can, make the sound too. We'll trick them into thinking the trap is sprung, and they'll come to clean up. Then we attack." He held up a hand, with a ball of writhing black smoke floating over his palm. "So, you know powerful Illusion magic? Why don't you use it in battle?"

"In battle? I was locked up in a coffin for thousands of years. Who was there to battle?"

Light sighed. "Sorry. That must have been hell." _Locked up in the dark, alone, with nothing to do, for what felt like eternity… I'd lose my mind in a year at most, but over three thousand years? How is she not a gibbering lunatic?_

She shrugged. "Most of the time, I was asleep, hibernating. Time has less meaning to a vampire. When I did wake, I despaired, but I had no idea how long I'd been entombed. For all I knew, it could have been mere weeks. In reality, my dreams each lasted centuries, and in those dreams, I was free. It was unpleasant to wake up, to find out it was all a dream, but I had no sense of time. I could go on, believing I'd only been asleep for a day or two. I convinced myself my mother would return, and tell me it was over."

"Your mother?" Light turned to her in disbelief. "Your mother left you in that damn tomb?"

"It was that, or let my father sacrifice me. He knew he needed the lifeblood of a Daughter of Coldharbour for his ritual. My mother wanted to stop him, and saving the world was the priority. Saving my life from Harkon… that was just a bonus, as much as it pains me to say so."

Light turned away, and glared at his feet_. Your mother just didn't have the guts to look you in the eye as she killed you. She didn't have it in her, so she left you alive in that prison, and consoled herself by saying you were still technically alive. But after three thousand years, how could I tell you that?_

"Light, relax. If it helps, let me tell you; I've been through a lot worse." she sighed. "We're immortal. There's way too much for us to look back on, so we have to face forward. We have to accept that we can't change the past, only the future. That's the ray of light that people are supposed to cling to, and we call it hope."

She threw an arm around his shoulders, and he looked up in surprise. "If we live forever, that's an infinite amount of time we have, to make our lives and the world around us better. See, that's why I'm cheerful and hopeful, even after all that lost time. I've let go of the past, so I can reach for the future." with her free arm, she gestured ahead and grabbed at the open air. "Look forward, reach forward, and you can move forward. Speaking of which…" she pointed to the cave entrance. "Shouldn't we get going?"

He nodded, and threw a ball of magelight into the cave, then extinguished the dim white glow left in his palm, replacing it with a swirling ball of black smoke and red light. He smirked as he saw a vampire lurking in the darkness, just inside the range of the magelight. He would have been invisible to a mortal, but not to a vampire's superior night vision.

He threw the Daedric spell, watching with satisfaction as it solidified in flight, turning into a simple javelin of black metal. It shot cleanly through the vampire's heart, and he crumpled. _Now, how many of you are left? _he transformed into a Vampire Lord. "Wait here," he hissed to Serana, and flew forward. The magelight in the cave went out as he approached, and he landed where it had been.

Three arrows were immediately fired at him, and all three struck. One from above, one from his right, and a third from behind, at the edge of the entrance. Light threw a conjured javelin back at each, killing all three before they could react.

Then, as Serana arrived behind him, his night vision pierced the gloom of the cave, revealing that his entire plan was useless. "Damn it." The cavern was massive, and the occupying vampires had used it to construct a full stone fortress within the existing walls of the mountain. It was perfect, a siege engine would never fit through the cave entrance or break down the mountain itself. He snarled in frustration as gates of iron and wood were hauled shut with the superhuman speed and strength found only in vampires. _Wait, what the hell is wrong with me? That gate was built to stop a human army, not me. I can break it easily enough._

Light pressed his palms together as he reverted to his human form. Tendrils of absolute darkness crept out between his fingers, catching Serana's eye as they twitched angrily, as though eager to escape Light's grasp and attack all in sight. He drew his hands apart, but they remained connected by a black rod of energy three inches thick. Wisps of black smoke poured off the spear, and it gave off the slightest red glow. He shifted his grip to wield it like a javelin, and hefted it to his shoulder.

Serana found herself unable to look away from the weapon, until the moment he threw it. In that moment, a phrase came to her mind, to describe Light's terrible power. _A shadow so dark that it casts a shadow on darkness itself. _In the coming months, the phrase would stick in her mind, and apply more and more to Light, instead of his powers.

The gate, as well as a section of the stone wall around it, was completely obliterated in an explosion of smoke, but without flame. The vampires that survived were thrown through the air, screaming, as Light approached. Serana followed, watching Light draw a serrated Daedric blade from his belt. A vampire armed with a massive warhammer approached, and was ruthlessly cut down. His hammer cracked the stone it landed on. Light kept walking.

Out of nowhere, a blast of lightning hit Light in the side of the head, and he was thrown to his left. Serana jumped incoluntarily, but then immediately summoned her own magical prowess, enhanced by her undeath.

Light's attacker stepped forward, a tall man wearing a white duster over steel armor. In each hand, he wielded a shortsword of pure silver. His face was obscured by a heavy helm of Dawnguard make. "Miss," he addressed her, "you're lookin' a bit pale. Did I startle ye? Or is it that ye just haven't seen th' sun recently?"

She glanced to Light, who was clearly still alive, if incapacitated, then back to the vampire hunter. "Silver," she commented, "doesn't come cheap. You must take this job seriously."

"'In th' name o' Stendarr, impure souls o' th' living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation.'" The vampire hunter approached, his silver blades at the ready. "A creed like that, ye have te take seriously. It's my job te send heathen monsters like yerself int' th' deepest pits of Oblivion, since ye so richly deserve it. Which brings me t' my next point: Would ye prefer te make yer way there in pieces, or as a nice little pile of ash?"

Serana nodded thoughtfully. "Do I get a third choice?"

"'Fraid not, lass. And yer out o' time too, so we're goin' with pieces. Takes less time te cut ye then te burn ye down."

Light chuckled darkly, and the sound echoed through the cavern. "I was beginning to wonder if there was anyone left worth fighting, after Alduin." he stood, and cracked his neck loudly. "Tell me, paladin of Stendarr, are you here on orders from Isran?"

"Come again?"

Light laughed again. _He doesn't know Isran, so he's not Dawnguard. _"You couldn't possibly have given me a better answer." He formed a ball of black magic in each hand, and stalked forward through the darkness. "Now, let's see how well you can back up your words, paladin. 'Banish me into eternal damnation.'"

"As ye will. Have at thee, demon!" the vampire hunter declared, and lunged forward with his swords raised. Light sidestepped one slash of his right blade, but a stab from the left pierced his shoulder, gushing blood. He grasped the side of the paladin's helm, and fired a blast of dark magic through it, obliterating the head within. The vampire hunter crumpled, and Light ripped the sword out of his shoulder. The silver burned his hand, and he dropped it.

"That was amusing." Light healed his wound, and turned to face the fortress. "Now then, the Moth Pri-"

A dull slicing sound cut him off, and he looked down to find his right arm severed at the shoulder. He blinked, and his other arm fell to the ground as well. "Did ye think I was done that easily?" He turned, and faced the paladin, whose head was intact. The destroyed helm sat on the ground in a pool of blood, and his swords glistened with golden light. "Ye think yer the worst I've fought?"

"Hm. This could be interesting after all." _I didn't notice any enchantments on his armor. Does that mean he grew his head back with his own natural abilities? _Light summoned his vampiric power, and grew two new arms from the stumps of the severed ones. "Serana, let me have my fun here, and you take the Moth Priest."

"I think not, demon!" Golden fire burst into life, blocking the exit. "That's holy sunlight, there. No impure soul may pass." The paladin crossed the blades of his twin swords. "Ye'll taste these blessed bayonets, feel them burn away yer souls, until yer naught but immolated husks at my feet!" He stepped forward, grinning madly. "The righteous power of Stendarr compels ye, yer tainted souls fade from this world, and suffer an eternity in Oblivion!"

Light bared his fangs in a grin, and he was consumed in black smoke. "Do your worst, Vigilant! It'll never be enough!" The smoke exploded outward, and dissipated to reveal Light's true form. He beat his wings and lunged, snarling as he flew, and the vampire hunter gave his own battlecry. He raised his silver bayonets and sprinted into battle.

They met, and Light swung his right wing forward as his first attack. The vampire hunter growled as he swung his sword, severing the black wing, but Light immediately grabbed and snapped the blade, countering with a blow from his free hand while his wing grew back. The paladin snarled as his face was ripped open by Light's claws, and he leapt back, giving both fighters time to heal. His cheek reassembled itself, as Light finished sprouting his new wing. He reached into the folds of his white coat, withdrawing a leather-bound book which he opened.

Pages covered in fine black print fluttered forth from the book in all directions, and scattered throughout the cave. Serana winced as powerful Restoration magic began to slowly burn her skin. _They're both so caught up in this fight, it's like they don't even realize I'm here. And they're both insanely powerful! _She glanced around at the enchanted pages. _The amount of magicka in that human is absurd, and as for Light... _

_...A shadow so dark, it casts a shadow on darkness itself..._

She shook the thoughts from her head, and left the two to rampage against each other, disappearing into the fortress in search of the Moth Priest. The last thing she saw before she passed the walls was Light's left arm being cut off, and his right charging a black and red spell to be fired. A few vampire residents of Forbears' Holdout were still cowering in their once-great fortress, but she ignored them and headed for the shimmering dome of translucent white light that housed a meditating Moth Priest.

Light forced out a demonic laugh through the strained vocal cords of his Vampire Lord form, and aimed his right palm at the paladin's chest, letting a beam of black and red fly loose. A gaping hole was blown through his chest, and he coughed blood, stepping back for a brief reprieve.

"It'll take more'n that te stop me, monster." His torso healed, and he bared his bloodstained teeth in a sneer at Light. "If that's all ye got-"

Light lunged, putting all of his wings' pushing strength into the attack, and stretched out his clawed hand, sinking it into the paladin's healed chest and retrieving his heart. He tossed it aside, watching the paladin begin to fall, and then stabbed forward again, this time sinking his claws into his foe's skull. Gripping the inside of the paladin's cranium, Light hauled him in close and sank his teeth into the vampire hunter's neck, siphoning out all of his victim's blood. When he was done, Light ripped his hand back out of the paladin's head, and let the body crumple. "Heal that."

Meanwhile, Serana had finished hypnotizing the Moth Priest with a Vampire's Seduction, and had ordered him to follow her to Sky Haven Temple. She fell silent just in time to hear the footsteps of an approaching army outside the cave. _Those footfalls are too heavy to be vampires. That' s an army of human warriors, and judging from their pace and disregard for stealth, they're confident. The metallic sound is heavy armor, I think, but I can't be sure. _Something clicked in her mind then. _They're here for the Moth Priest, and since they're human, they have no interest in the prophecy. They want to stop it from happening, so they'll try to kill the Priest so we can't use him. A few escaping vampires would mean little to them. _She grinned. _I'm sure this is what Light would do..._

A few moments later, as the human army marched in, three hooded vampires fled past them in terror. Each individual knight was armored in white plate from head to toe, and Light immediately deduced they were affiliated with the vampire hunter he had killed, likely the main force to follow up his initial attack. Still, these were fighters and not much else, and they had failed to see the incredibly obvious scheme Serana had just thrown into motion. _They're one-track minds, every last one of them. Attack, kill the target, burn the vampire, and everything else is a backdrop. Idiots. Rather like the paladin, really, all the more reason to assume they're the ones who employed him. _

He smirked as he, Serana, and a disguised Dexion Evicus made their way south to Sky Haven Temple, completely unhindered, whilst the knights attacked an all but empty cave.

X

"...but as ready as we thought we were, Alduin was still way above our level. Ryuzaki held him off for a while, even managed to use Dragonrend on him, but once Alduin used that Shout, it was over. He was pretty much crippled, his weapons were destroyed, and his magicka was gone. Even without all of that, Alduin was just that much stronger." Light paused, and shrugged. "Well, at the time he was stronger."

"His magicka was gone?" Serana repeated. "But he's so powerful now. And he must have repaired his body somehow. Did doing that restore his power?"

"No, he was stuck using normal weapons until we found Alduin's lair, Skuldafn. There was a portal there that led directly to Sovngarde, a realm which is made entirely of magicka. We fought Alduin again in the afterlife, and really, there was no doubt in my mind Ryuzaki would win. That was the first time he used Strunkriid, and the first time I wielded my true power. After we returned to the living world, though, I couldn't use it, I couldn't transform. That's why I decided to become a Vampire Lord, I thought I could tap into my power indirectly. I was right."

Light stopped walking, as he saw the side of the Karthspire explosively catch fire, relatively near the balcony of Sky Haven Temple. The huge mountain was still on the horizon to them, but the size of the inferno made it hard to miss. Now looking closer, Light used the incredible eyesight vampirism bestowed, coupled with his shinigami eyes, to make out one of two names fluttering through the distant sky, circling the other at what must have been an incredible speed. _L Lawliet. And it's not hard to guess who he's fighting. _Then, however, a third name joined L's and his opponent's, this one also blurred, and from this distance, he had no way of knowing whose side the newcomer was on.

L chose this moment to begin flinging lightning with Strunkriid, and Light made his decision. He turned to Serana and pulled her into his chest as he began to transform. "What in Oblivion?" She exclaimed in surprise.

"I can fly, you can't," he explained, and transformed. As his wings sprouted, he beat them powerfully downward, taking off with Serana in his arms. Immediately, he headed for the battle, noting as he approached that the courtyard of the Akaviri castle had been destroyed, and its pieces were strewn down the side of the distant Karthspire.

X

A/N: I already have part of Chapter 6 written on paper, so it shouldn't take too long. Again, thanks for waiting and sticking around. I plan to have Chapter 6 up anywhere from a few days from now through to mid-July. If it takes longer than that, shoot me.


	7. T Minus

I apologize for how late this chapter is. Thankfully no one shot me. It's my longest chapter yet at 8500 words, so maybe that'll partly make up for it. It also tries to explain what the hell a Paladin of Iscariot was doing in Skyrim.

X

Sky Haven Temple, T- 8 hrs

_L was asleep. These days, it wasn't such a rare occurrence, and he certainly didn't miss obsessively hunching over a laptop, without sleep for days on end, eating absurd quantities of candy to stay awake. True, he still lived on the stuff, as his brain required a constant supply of energy to run at full capacity, but at least he slept._

_Dreams, however, he could happily do without, for every dream he ever had, had been a nightmare. _

_"Zu'u unslaad. Zu nis oblaan."_

_L recognized Alduin's parting declaration to him in Sovngarde. "I am immortal, I cannot die," L repeated in his own tongue. _

_"You have grown strong, Dovahkiin."_

_He blinked in the darkness, only now realizing how absolute it was. The voice was Alduin's, a perfect match. The word "Dovahkiin" was echoed by several dozen quieter voices. "Alduin. Is this just a dream, I wonder? Or something more?"_

_"The Dov are many things, as you have seen, but not liars." Alduin's golden-orange eyes opened, two brilliant points of light in otherwise perfect darkness. "No, I spoke the truth when last I could speak, but I confess, it was not a defiant boast, not a threat or any kind of intentional announcement at all. I realized, as I died, that Dovahsil, the Dragon Soul, is immortal and never leaves this world. I had an epiphany."_

_"So I really can't defeat you." L nodded. __**70% chance this is a nightmare. **__"And you're here to fight me again, break free of my body, and destroy the world."_

_"Aam?" Alduin stepped forward, and somehow his head became visible in just the light of his eyes. L lit a ball of magelight in his palm, revealing Alduin's entire body. "Break free?" The World-Eater laughed. "And then what? Doing so would not kill you, and you are still strong enough to face me. No, I have a far better idea."_

_**What? That's not something I could dream up! Down to 10% now... incredible.**_

_"No, we are both immortal, but we will be divided eventually by the death of your oh, so human body. How can you possibly cope with such frailty? To tear up your own throat simply by Shouting... I cannot imagine it. I could not, so I experienced it firsthand. It wasn't at all the terrible experience I expected, since you modified this body, but I saved your life, and that of the weak-Voiced girl. Are you not grateful?"_

_"YOU!" L's eyes widened. "You took over my body and destroyed half of Whiterun!" he heard an echo of a primal roar, his own voice days ago, guided by Alduin's influence._

_"Defeating that vile human in the process, and thus, you are still alive."_

_"What the hell do you want?" L snarled. _

_"Complete control of this body, and I'll have it. You've even gone to the trouble of matching its strength and endurance to the body you took from me. Remarkable, how these things always come full circle." Alduin drew closer, and glared at him in the dim light. "Now, be gone from my lair, you are unwelcome."_

X

Sky Haven Temple, T- 7 hrs 03 min

Ryuzaki breathed in deeply, and thunder rumbled in the sky overhead. The rain came down in sheets, heavier than he had ever seen, soaking his white shirt and jeans. He stood in the training courtyard of Sky Haven Temple at almost midnight, awaiting the arrival of Light and Serana, hopefully bringing a Moth Priest with them. The rain splattered loudly off the stone beneath his feet, and he wriggled his bare toes comfortably.

He held out his right hand, and flicked his index finger, sending a spark to flicker from one raindrop to the next. It sizzled quietly as it flew, and he directed it, maintaining the spell without watching. As he did, he practiced an intense capoeira move sequence Watari had taught him when he was fourteen.

The stone beneath his bare feet was smooth, wet and slippery, but he completed the sequence without letting the spark to his right die out for even a single instant. He nodded to himself in satisfaction, but let out four more sparks, guiding them all as he drew Strunkriid. Lightning flashed overhead, and thunder growled, as if in answer to the sword's presence. However, he knew the weapon's abilities well enough to understand that this was coincidence, nothing more.

He began swinging Strunkriid, envisioning each strike carrying a lethal dose of shock magic. _The next time I fight Beyond, I'll force him to use his sword, and watch how he does. Then I'll know how mine works. _Meanwhile, the sparks continued to sizzle in the air, climbing up between falling raindrops. With his free left hand, he began throwing ward spells, which solidified into floating spheres to be shattered by swings of his sword.

He sheathed Strunkriid after several minutes, and let the sparks die as he guided the entirety of his magicka into the air surrounding him. The raindrops falling around him slowed, floating down through the magicka-dense air sluggishly. _I can't keep my magicka stored like this permanently, _he mused, _but if I can mix mine aggressively into Beyond's cloud and convert it to my command, I can force him to withdraw his power into his body. He'll lose the ability to move around faster than I can see, he'll lose his impenetrable defense, and it may even interfere with his offense. _He recalled his magicka into his body, taking with it the ambient magicka that had drifted in the air of the courtyard.

"LOK VAH KOOR!" Ryuzaki turned, and faced Misa as the storm fell silent above them. She grinned proudly as she glanced up at the now crystal-clear night sky. "So, what were the sparks for?"

"I was honing my ability to observe everything around me, at all times." He smiled. "If it hadn't been for that, you would have easily snuck up on me, and stealth is a useful skill to have."

She beamed. "Why are you out here now, though? It's midnight!"

"I... couldn't sleep." He looked down at his toes. "Nightmares."

"Of Beyond?"

"Of Alduin."

This took Misa by surprise. "Why him? Didn't you kill him?" She paused, and her tone changed. "There's more to it than that. What's getting you so shaken up? Because I _know_ there's more to it."

"I don't know where to begin," he answered with a sigh. "The Blades still want to carry out a total genocide on the Dov, and I'm the only one in their way. Then there's the Volkihar trying to blot out the Sun for eternity. I left Watari half-dead on Earth. You got impaled a few days ago. My best friend is a vampire. You turned out to be Dragonborn like me, doom-driven and burdened by destiny for the rest of your life. I have to fight and kill Beyond, who was raised to be my successor. It turns out Alduin's soul is still somewhere inside mine, and even with all of that, my biggest problem is the one that's not trying to kill me yet. The Aldmeri Dominion will return. They won't waste time with conquering Tamriel this time, instead they'll go straight for the end game. The Direnni Tower of High Rock."

"What's the Direnni Tower?" she asked, almost dreading the answer.

"When Mundus was created by the gods, several Towers were built on Nirn to hold reality together. Over the ages, these towers have been deactivated or destroyed, until most recently, the Throat of the World was deactivated, by me killing Alduin. That leaves only the Direnni Tower, and if it's destroyed, Mundus will dissolve. The world will end, and the Thalmor want this because they believe it will allow them to revert into their ancestral species. In case you didn't know, 'Aedra' literally translates to 'Our Ancestors.' They intend to become gods, killing the entire human race in the process." He stopped, and bit his thumbnail as a thought occurred to him.

"That's insane!" Misa exclaimed, shocked. "The civilians in Summerset Isle... they can't possibly be going along with that!"

"It's unlikely they even know. It's likely a conspiracy carried out solely by the Aldmeri rulers. All but the highest-ranked military officers would be out of the loop as well." He looked up, meeting her eyes. "Misa, I'm returning to Earth, tonight. There are some very important things I need to do."

Excitement shone in her eyes. "Can I come?"

"I was about to offer. There's something I'd like to show you."

"Huh?" He held out his hand, and she took it on instinct. _Something to show me?_

"NAHL DAAL LEIN!"

X

Wammy's House - T- 6 hrs 37 min

"Gah!" Misa cried out as she appeared suddenly in another dimension. Now in a well-kept, hardwood-floored office on Earth, she was very aware of the rainwater dripping from her dragonscale armor. "Where are we?" She glanced at the oak desk of the windowless room, occupied solely by a slim white laptop. The midnight-blue leather chair behind it was empty, and there were two indents where bare feet had supported the weight of a crouching detective at work. "Is this...?"

"A well-kept orphanage in Winchester, England, called Wammy's House. It's home to the keenest minds on Earth, one of the most secure facilities ever built, and it's where I was raised." Misa's eyes widened, and she looked around, immediately trying to visualize a young L here.

It wasn't hard at all. The image that came to mind was of a skinny boy in baggy blue jeans and a worn white shirt. He appeared, in her mind's eye, to be no older than ten, already slouching forward as he walked. His pockets were stuffed with chocolate and hard candy, and the black circles under his eyes were only beginning to form. She imagined him moving toward the computer, saying nothing and looking at nothing but his goal. The boy would then crouch in that chair, and not leave for several days.

She snapped back to reality as L announced, "It would be unspeakably cruel of me to do anything before seeing Watari."

"Wha?" She quickly followed as he pushed the door open and headed down the hall. "Ryuzaki, wait up!" She glanced around at the children traversing the halls, but one in particular, a boy with snow-white hair, skin and clothes, simply sat with a toy robot, holding one knee to his chest with his left hand. He looked up at her, and she was startled by his eyes, more empty and devoid of emotion than Ryuzaki's had ever been. He noticed her armor, and blinked in surprise, then studied it as she followed Ryuzaki further.

After a fair distance, he turned and opened a door, revealing a room not unlike a hotel suite. On the bed, holding an e-reader, was Quillsh Wammy, with his right leg and belly bandaged from the stab wounds inflicted by Beyond. He turned to the door. "Ryuzaki! What are you doing here?"

"I should have come back immediately," Ryuzaki answered, and went to the side of the bed. "I'm sorry. I could have healed you immediately, but I focused on Beyond and ignored this entire world." He laid a hand on his mentor's leg, wrapping it in golden light, then moved to Wammy's torso.

"Ryuzaki, it's alright." Wammy sighed as the constant pain of the wound came to an end. "Now, tell me. What's happened with Beyond?" the older man sat up.

Ryuzaki looked down. "I haven't managed to stop him. He's still on the loose, and he's powerful." He ran a hand through his messy black hair in frustration. "I'm trying, and the task isn't impossible, but I feel... lost. When I was a boy, I turned to you for guidance, and you were always right no matter what I asked about." He recounted the events of the past weeks, explaining everything in detail, and Misa listened along with Wammy.

"You've changed so much, my boy," Wammy replied finally. "You've changed, to the point where hiding in the background is no longer enough for you. This is advice I never expected to give you, but you need to step out of the shadows. The civilian population of Skyrim was never informed of your death, and you can use that. Return as the High King of Skyrim. You can make more of a difference that way."

L blinked at his mentor. He took a few seconds to process Wammy's advice, then nodded. "Yes, you're right. They look up to me as a hero, and I can fill that role. I've always been L, always morally ambiguous, ruthless, cunning, but now... now Skyrim needs me to be something completely different, so I will be."

X

Wammy's House - T- 4 hrs 55 min

Mello snored. When L knocked on his door, his only response was to snore louder. It was, after all, two in the morning, and he had no way of knowing it was L at the door to his room. Mello was one of few Wammy's residents who slept normally. "Mello. Wake up, open the door."

"Huh, wha? Matt, get the door," Mello groaned. His roommate, playing Crysis 3 on a muted flatscreen, paused the game, stood, and opened the door.

He looked up at L, and blinked. L blinked in response. For several slow-motion seconds, there was absolute silence. Then, Matt shrugged. "It's for you," he called to Mello.

Mello groaned again, and it was muffled by the pillow his face was buried in. "Tell 'em to get lost!"

"Mello says 'get lost.'" The gamer suppressed a chuckle. "Mels, I should really mention that it's L with a hot Japanese girl."

Mello, obviously, didn't take this seriously, but he crawled out of bed and threw open his bedroom door. Once again, silence fell over everyone. Mello calmly stepped forward out of his room, made his way to the kitchen, and grabbed a chocolate bar. He unwrapped it, reestablished eye contact with L, and bit off a piece of chocolate loudly. He chewed, swallowed, and paused for a single second, then said, calmly and quietly, "What."

"I'm sorry to wake you at a time like this, Mello, but I'm sure you can understand the importance of this meeting." L said this in English for Mello's benefit, but Misa didn't understand.

Mello took another bite, finished comprehending the situation, and said, still calmly and quietly, "Holy shit."

"Did you find anything of note?"

Mello blinked. He knew full well, that he had mere moments before he involuntarily began to, as several female Wammy's House residents would say, 'squee.' Apparently, it was a portmanteau of 'squeal' and 'glee,' a reaction brought on by extreme, uncontrollable awe and joy. He, however, had devoted his entire life to becoming L's successor, and allowing such a reaction to his idol's presence simply would not do. He channeled his inner L, calming his emotions, and replied, "Yes, I did. The creatures you asked about have indeed visited Earth." Mello calmly bit off another piece of chocolate, and retrieved a paper folder from his bedroom. "There's a few files in there pertaining specifically to vampires which I think you'll find interesting."

L nodded, took the folder, and replied, "Thank you, Mello."

The blond detective-in-training beamed. _Near, you are such a dumbass for turning this job down! I've got L in my freaking room! Looks like I win this time. _

"Hmm. Misa, look at this," L called in Japanese. "A clandestine organization of exorcists under the command of the Vatican lost their finest agent a few months ago, via what they believe was an interdimensional portal. 'Father Alexander Anderson,' also known as the 'Paladin of Iscariot.'"

"And he might have turned up in Tamriel?" She asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me." L flipped through the papers, finding one in particular that seemed important. "There's a similar group here in England, employed by the Queen, called the Hellsing Organization. According to these classified files - I take it you two acquired these illegally - Hellsing employs a powerful vampire in their efforts to deal with occult threats to the Crown. This agent, alias 'Alucard,' is apparently over a thousand years old, and still physically youthful..." L paused, and plucked a photograph out of the folder. The creature depicted was clearly not human, seeing as most of its body had been distorted into a black and red mist, and Ryuzaki noted its powers were similar, in appearance and scale, to Light's. "Impressive work, Mello. You've tracked down aspects of Tamrielic lore on Earth... elves, dragons, magic, trolls, enchanted tools of war... incredible."

"My conclusion is that portals, like the one you first fell through in your sleep, regularly appear and connect both worlds. They can also be opened from either world, but that requires the right spell, and explicit knowledge of the other dimension's existence."

"Like the Shout I've been using," Ryuzaki noted, and bit his thumbnail, considering the implications of this. "If there's any race capable of opening a portal from Tamriel to Earth, it'll be the longest-living, the most learned of magic, an isolated society whose secrets rarely leave its borders, the race known throughout Nirn for being the most powerful mages," he said to Misa in Japanese.

"The High Elves," Misa finished.

Ryuzaki nodded. "And I shudder to think of the implications. The fate of the world will come down to a single battle. Nords, Imperials, perhaps other races gather to stop the massed elven army, swords and bows at the ready. Our dragons circle overhead, our mages are ready to bend the elements to our will, but the Aldmeri march, and draw not blades, but firearms. There will be no second chance for us to beat them, so having that element of surprise just once will be enough. Their weapons will be enough to win them the war in a single battle, a single day. And the tower will fall." He closed the folder. "Or that might have been the case, had you not given me this folder, Mello. Tonight, you saved the world."

"Wait, I'm still learning Japanese, so I didn't catch all of that. What's going on?"

"Suffice to say, I will be able to prevent the apocalypse thanks to the information you've given me. I can tell you the full story sometime, but right now, there's more I need to do. Thank you, Mello."

"N-no problem. If you ever need any more help with this..."

"I'll pay you a visit, yes." Ryuzaki turned and left, taking Misa with him and closing the door politely.

Mello bit off another piece of chocolate, staring at the door as if it had never opened, and he had imagined the entire meeting. Still channeling his inner L, he declared, "That was awesome."

Matt resumed playing his game. "Did you notice she was wearing armor? Looked like it was made of dragon scales or something. Whatever she's cosplaying, I wanna play it."

X

Wammy's House - T- 4 hrs 02 min

The orphans of Wammy's House backed away from Misa, at a simple command from the armed guards of the facility. There were eight, and every single one had an assault rifle leveled at her head. "Take off the swordbelt and put it on the ground," one of them ordered.

Misa's heart was racing. _They won't just let me live. Ryuzaki said this was one of the most secure compounds in the world, no one gets to walk away after wandering through it for two hours, potentially memorizing its layout and the faces of the inhabitants. _She unbuckled the belt and gently lowered the weapon and its scabbard to the floor. "Look, this really isn't necessary. I came here with L, he'll vouch for me..."

"You're lying." A boy dressed all in white pushed two guards out of his way, and stood between them to stare at Misa. She noticed his perfect imitation of L's slouch. "L weighs 110 pounds, and the impostor you brought here is significantly heavier. He, like you, is carrying a sword, something the real L would never do, for two reasons. One, he has never received training in the use of such weapons, and two, this is Wammy's House, and he would know just how forbidden weapons are within the compound. I haven't yet deduced your motive, but you are lying, I have no doubt."

"I've been walking around this place for two and a half hours!" She replied incredulously. "If I were going to do something bad, I'd have done it by now!"

"Exactly." The albino boy, whom she now recognized from earlier, added, "We waited to apprehend you, so you'd fulfill your purpose and incriminate yourself, and now, as an added advantage, you're separated from your partner, who is being detained elsewhere."

"Detained? You can't just detain L," Misa declared angrily. "I don't know who you think you are, but this has to stop. I don't want to scare the kids, or hurt any of you."

"Then come quietly," the boy replied. "I am a tactician on a completely different level from you. You are outnumbered, disarmed, and morally pinned down by the presence of these children. There is nothing you can do to prevent your capture."

Misa screamed as the tension was violently snapped, by a violet portal opening in front of her, out of which stepped Ryuzaki. The guards opened fire, and hit their mark, but Ryuzaki was bulletproof. He drew his sword, and commanded, _"Lower your weapons, NOW!"_

The guards opened fire again, until their magazines were empty, but still Ryuzaki stood unharmed. He glared down at the pale boy holding the toy robot, who had suddenly lost his confidence. "Near. This mess was brought about by my own failure to announce my arrival, and your reaction must have seemed reasonable at the time, but it ends now. I've just been shot one hundred and twenty-seven times, and if your men are not ordered to stand down immediately, I will have Watari ground you for the same number of days."

The boy regained his composure at that, and declared, "You don't even sound like L, and you expect me to fall for that? I understand Mello did, and handed over classified documents to you." He fell silent, and the guards reloaded their weapons.

"You really don't believe it's me."

"You're not the first person to imitate L."

Ryuzaki winced as he thought of Beyond. "Is there anything I can do to prove it?"

Near hesitated. "What's my true name?"

"Are you sure you want it spoken here, with so many witnesses?" Ryuzaki asked politely.

Near blinked, but held out a hand and declared, "Give me a gun." the grip of a rifle was placed in his hand. "Now, everyone but you two with the swords, back away. Fake L, if you give an incorrect answer, which you will, I will shoot you in the eye, likewise with your ally." He said this as the last of the witnesses backed away out of hearing range.

"I really doubt you have the skill to do that, Nate." Near lowered his weapon, now regretting his actions. "That said," Ryuzaki added, "Your courage in facing me alone was admirable. You and Mello both understand the value of taking the initiative, and I'm proud of you for it."

After a pause, Near replied, "Thank you."

"I'm particularly impressed with your ability to memorize my voice, having only met me twice before, and to do so to such a degree that you considered my voice alone solid evidence." The Dragonborn smiled warmly. "It appears I chose my successors well; the two of you will make a better L than I, a single person, could ever be."

"Both of us? But Mello..."

"Mello will understand. He'll cooperate once I tell him how long I've been planning this, but we'll have to sort that out later." He turned to face Misa. "We'll have to be heading back, for now."

"Wait!" Near's calm shattered. "How are you doing all of this? How are you teleporting, and taking bullets like nothing?"

"Ask Mello. He knows enough to explain." Misa took his hand, and he Shouted, "NAHL DAAL VUS!"

He disappeared in a flash of pale blue light, taking Misa with him and leaving Near behind. Alone, the boy suddenly realized just how heavy the rifle in his hands was, and he set down the deadly weapon carefully.

X

Sky Haven Temple - T- 18 min

Ryuzaki's hands drifted precisely through the air, shaping a single piece of floating golden metal he had synthesized with magic. It was simply too strong to be forged with a hammer, even under the most intense heat a forge could manage, but having created the material himself, Ryuzaki could use the same magic that had spawned it in order to shape it.

He had already created a suit of armor for Misa, to fit her abilities uniquely and perfectly. She was likely putting it on in another room. When Beyond next revealed his presence, Ryuzaki knew he and Misa would be ready.

This was the last piece of metal, and he finished bending it into shape, then fitted it into place on the now finished set of armor. It sat on the stone table which dominated the main hall of Sky Haven Temple. For total freedom of movement, the armor was comprised of hundreds of pieces. His hands and head would be left bare. An ankle-length kilt of chainmail, crafted from the same material, provided thousands of places to put a new defensive enchantment, one on each ring of mail. There was a cloak of thick white fabric attached to the armor, broad enough to wrap around his entire body, a defense against the cold which his invulnerability only partly helped against. On the back of the cloak was embroidered the seal of Riften

When he became the Jarl, he devised this emblem to replace the outdated sigil of the infamous Jarl Hosgunn Crossed-Daggers; a stylized golden dragon's head drawn in a swirling Nordic design, with spiraling golden lines spouting from its open jaws to represent a Shout. It was a powerful symbol to represent a powerful Dragonborn king. He took the armor into the alcove where he had found Dragonbane so long ago, and sealed the entrance with an opaque white ward spell, then changed into it, and returned to the main hall.

Misa was there, wearing her own new armor. Her armor looked deceivingly simple, a suit of deep purple plates fitted together in an ordinary style, and lacking a helmet. However, like his, her new equipment hid its own secrets, and was actually a weapon designed to fit perfectly with the skills she had acquired over the past few days.

She stood at Alduin's Wall, brushing a hand over the image of the Last Dragonborn locked in combat with Alduin. Of course, now he had to question whether the title applied to him at all, since Misa was younger and had come into her power more recently. And if _she_ was the Last Dragonborn, that would mean she would need to fight Alduin at some point. Or perhaps the title wasn't meant to be taken literally, and there would never truly be a Last Dragonborn...

"Ryuzaki." Delphine interrupted his thoughts as she entered the main chamber of Sky Haven Temple, wearing a scowl along with full Blades armor. Six samurai-esque Blades flanked her on each side, for a total of thirteen hands on thirteen hilts. Misa turned to face them, and watch what happened. "I've waited as long as I could to do this, to tell you this, but... the time has come. The dragons must be eradicated."

"Straight to the point. I expected no less from you, Delphine," Ryuzaki replied. "I'll be blunt, as you have. I will never allow you to extinguish an entire race; it's cruelty beyond what I'm capable of. It's genocide, and I won't do it."

"You have no choice. Don't you see that? You're the Dragonborn, it's your destiny to help us kill them."

"Incorrect. My destiny was to slay the World-Eater, which I did." He glanced around at the Blades, whose armored hands rested on the hilts of their katanas. "We've had this discussion before, Delphine. I'm getting tired of having to repeat my answer so many times. The Dov are under my protection."

"You're a Blade, Ryuzaki. High King or not, I have power over you. I command the Blades."

"I swore no oath to you, and even if I had, I would break it now and lose no sleep tonight."

The Blades circled Ryuzaki, and Misa quietly drew her ebony longsword behind them. "Last chance, Ryuzaki. The dragons will die, whether you're alive to see it or not."

"Bitch," Misa interjected loudly. Delphine ignored her. "I think you're running out of arguments, and the ones you had sucked anyway," she called again, and Delphine grimaced angrily at that.

Ryuzaki watched Delphine and her guards draw their swords, and did the same with Strunkriid, pushing his cloak back over his shoulders as he did to reveal his new golden armor. "You're making a terrible mistake," he declared.

"Maybe, but so are you. Tell me, Ryuzaki, are you a man or a wyrm?" Her eyes narrowed.

Ryuzaki sighed. "We prefer 'Dovah,' since it's in our native tongue." Delphine snarled, and leapt forward with her katana held high in both hands. Ryuzaki caught the downward swing with his own blade. "Misa! Subdue the Blades!" He shoved Delphine away with Strunkriid as the twelve other samurai stepped closer.

From the elbows down, Misa's new armor dissolved into a dark purple liquid that snaked down her arms and floated in an orb beneath each hand, revealing sleeves of fitted black chainmail beneath the violet plates. With a simple flick of the wrist, she threw a globe of quivering metal at one of the Blades' chestplate.

The substance was controlled through one of many enchantments on the black bodysuit she wore beneath it, connecting it to her mind like another limb, and with the same level of control required to write with one's fingers or walk with one's legs, she was able to delicately use the absolute minimal amount of liquid metal to seep between each plate of the samurai's armor, solidify it, and retrieve the bulk of liquid, which had been left unused. Now unable to move his entire body from the waist up, on account of the solid, jointless case of metal around him, the Blade fell over.

Whilst Misa effortlessly repeated this sequence of events with the remaining eleven trained dragonslayers, Ryuzaki continued to simply deflect each of Delphine's strikes. With one hand on his sword, he was fast and strong enough to block all of her two-handed blows, due in part to the incredible strength enchanted into his body. "I would prefer this to end peacefully, without you suffering bodily harm," he said with genuine warmth in his voice. "But I cannot allow genocide, not while I have the chance to prevent it, so you must surrender."

Delphine kept attacking. "I _will not _discard my honor!" He dodged a slash meant to open his throat. "I'm a Blade, it's my _destiny _to do this!"

"Destiny is a terrible burden, Delphine, but it's not so cruel as to ask this of you. Stand down, or I'll start fighting back."

"Do your worst!" Delphine spat, and swung her katana again.

Ryuzaki knocked it aside with ease, and countered with a slash of his own. She cried out in shock at the awesome force behind the blow. _No human being should be this strong, it's like I'm actually fighting a dragon. A few hits like that, and he'll break my arm! _She dodged the next swing, and sneered. "You're strong, but if that's the best you can do with a sword..." _I can beat him! I'm sure he has power enough to bring this place down on us, but that's exactly why he won't use it! If he holds back like this, I can beat him!_

Ryuzaki frowned sadly. "This is roughly a tenth of my strength and speed." He lunged forward in a blur, and Delphine frantically dodged three more strikes, feeling Strunkriid's tip scrape her armor and produce sparks each time. "That's a fifth of it. FAAS RU MAAR!"

Delphine screamed, watching in horror as Ryuzaki's form flickered into that of Alduin, rearing with his wings spread wide and teeth bared. "_Surrender!_" The World-Eater thundered. "Do so now, and I will spare your pitiful life!"

She sobbed, and let the katana drop from her hands as she collapsed to her knees in horror. The illusion dissipated, and Ryuzaki sheathed his snow-white sword. "I'm sorry it's come to this, Delphine. Please, let go of this nightmare." He held out his now-empty right hand to help her up, and she reached for it.

"_Vampires_!" Misa roared, and called back the synthesized liquid metal she had used on the Blades, freeing them and restoring her arsenal to full strength. Ryuzaki spun, withdrawing his hand, and Delphine was suddenly faced with the dragon emblem on the back of his cloak. The attacking vampires surged forward into Sky Haven Temple, and the leader of the Blades flinched away from the terrible image, as Ryuzaki drew Strunkriid again.

"FUS RO DAH!" Misa Shouted, sending six vampires flying. She drew her sword and began cutting through the others. The Blades she had freed came to her aid. Meanwhile Ryuzaki crossed blades with the nearest vampire, using the full extent of his speed to impale his foe immediately. Delphine's eyes were glued to the dragon symbol on his cloak, fluttering as he blurred through the attacking vampires with Strunkriid in hand.

He glanced at Misa, who was killing the invaders just as quickly with her sword and weaponized armor. In a matter of seconds the team of vampires was annihilated.

"Ryuzaki," she called, as she solidified her armor once more, "the Volkihar wouldn't send an attack force unless they knew you were here. And if they know that..." she trailed off.

"If they knew that, they'd know a force like this stood no chance. Beyond is on his way." He turned back to face Delphine, and declared, "You need to get your people to safety. They don't stand a chance against Beyond."

Delphine stared up at him numbly. "No time. That team you just killed, the only reason for them to come here is to distract us, so the main force can catch us off-guard from another direction. They're already here."

He immediately realized how right she was, and turned to Misa, who blinked back at him, just before a fireball blew a massive hole in the roof over their heads. Delphine shuddered as the debris crashed down around her, leaving her miraculously unharmed, while Ryuzaki, Misa, and several Blades were knocked flying in all directions.

Ryuzaki heard Alduin's desperate roar echo through his thoughts, and groaned as shattered bits of stone clinked against his new armor. He pushed himself back to his feet, and shot across the room to where Misa lay slumped against Alduin's Wall. "Misa, are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." She opened her eyes, blinked twice, and shook her head. A few flakes of ancient stone tumbled out of her hair. "That spell worked great, I'm actually fine." She stood and continued, "I'll distract whoever's throwing those fireballs while you get the Blades out of here."

He nodded, then cast his gaze to the hole torn in the roof. _It'll fit a dragon, _he observed, and roared, "OD AH VIING!" He turned back to Misa. "Beyond will be there. Be careful."

It took mere seconds for the crimson dragon to arrive, more trauma for Delphine's shattering mind. Odahviing landed inside the last sanctuary of the Blades, crushing the stone table beneath his weight, and she cried out in horror at the sight. She stood shakily, tightened her grip on the razor-sharp katana she had wielded for so many years, and charged with a scream toward the golden dragon.

Ryuzaki saw the insane desperation in her eyes, saw her approach with the intent to hack him in two, and he was too shocked to form a response. Instead, the oldest living Blade made his presence known by leaping between the two, catching Delphine's katana with his own. Esbern spoke. "Delphine, please, calm down."

Delphine ignored his words and swiped at the white tunic Esbern was wearing in place of armor, but the old man just barely dodged. "Delphine!"

Odahviing rustled his wings, confused and concerned, and drew Delphine's attention. She turned and prepared an attack on the dragon, but the doors to the courtyard above Alduin's wall were promptly destroyed by a second fireball, distracting her once again. A third flew through the opening, aimed at Odahviing, who roared and threw himself aside. The spell landed amidst the rubble of the table, flinging slabs of rock in all directions, by which Delphine, Esbern, Ryuzaki and Odahviing were struck.

Delphine's armor saved her from death, and she fled toward the tunnels of the Karthspire, the sole exit from Sky Haven Temple. A few injured Blades followed her, while the rest stayed and saw Ryuzaki heal both of Esbern's legs, broken by a flying chunk of rock.

Meanwhile, Misa had reached the courtyard, and found Beyond standing there alone. He smirked as she drew her sword and approached. "You seem to have taken being impaled rather well," he observed, "but did you really feel it necessary to experience it twice?"

"Pfft." Misa smirked back at him. "I'm gonna destroy you this time."

He lunged, drawing his sword as he did, and her eyes widened. She was able to block with her own blade, but barely. _He's so damn fast! _She knocked his sword aside and attacked, but he cracked a grin and parried every strike.

She retreated a few feet, and he watched with an amused expression as she raised her sword over her head with both hands, then flung it at him. Surprised, he knocked the flying weapon aside and quickly turned his attention back to Misa, his grin having vanished.

It was already too late to stop her. Her armor melted over her entire body, dissolving into a slick violet liquid that dripped down her arms and legs. It gathered in two surging fountains of liquid metal, one beneath each of her hands. This left her true armor exposed, a formfitting suit of thickly woven ebony chainmail that glistened with powerful enchantments. "I was hoping to keep this a secret until later," she admitted, "But I'm just not fast enough to stop you with swordplay."

"This might actually be interesting on some level," he replied, and raised his sword. He charged, and she was again barely able to see him move, but she swung her right arm forward, directing a torrent of her liquid armor between them. Beyond sliced through the flow and reached her, swinging again with a grin and striking her hip. Sparks flew from the sword grating against her armor, and she was knocked to the ground. Beyond stood over her, grinning with his sword raised to stab her again, but he froze when she looked up at him and grinned back.

The same serpentine flow of metal he had passed through slammed into his back, throwing him forward. Misa rolled to her right as he landed where she had been, and she sat up facing him. With a wave of her hand the liquid metal hardened again, pinning Beyond. He snarled at the predicament, and Misa directed the other half of her armor onto him. She guided the metal to reach out and wrap around his head, then solidified it. She let her arms fall to her sides, and sighed in relief.

Odahviing roared as he flew away, carrying Esbern and most of the other Blades. Ryuzaki stepped through the destroyed gates and made his way to Misa's side. The younger Dragonborn stood, and announced, "I think I killed him."

"No," Ryuzaki breathed. "I can still feel him controlling his magicka, he's not dead." He stepped forward and reached for the hilt of Strunkriid. "Expose his head so I can finish this."

His eyes widened when the metal encasing Beyond was lit from within by a shocking orange glow. He reacted with lightning speed, pulling Misa into his arms and teleporting away to the mountainside above Sky Haven Temple. A split second later, an explosion of flame spread out from Beyond and filled the courtyard. When the flames dimmed and scattered, Beyond was revealed, upright and floating several feet above the courtyard. Orange-glowing fragments of Misa's armor were scattered around him.

_He's actually flying, _Ryuzaki observed silently. _Likely using the magicka he fills the air with, as usual. It looks as though he's standing on an invisible platform of it. _

Beyond's amused grin was gone. He lifted his sword and leveled it at Ryuzaki, and it burst into flame. His hand was untouched by the intense heat of the fire, and once again he recalled the day he had found it. The sword had healed the burn scars he'd suffered from since Los Angeles, restoring his identical resemblance to L, and he hadn't been hurt by fire ever since.

_So it's fire, _Ryuzaki observed. _His sword gives him absolute control over fire. Now, what exactly can he do with it?_

Beyond waved his sword through the open air, and a sphere of flames exploded into existence around him, filling the courtyard and cracking it in two. The half of it that extended from the temple and the mountainside collapsed downward, sparking an avalanche down the side of the Karthspire. Gusts of black smoke swirled outward in all directions from the fireball, engulfing Ryuzaki, Misa, and the temple behind them.

The High King unsheathed his own blade, lighting it with arcs of pale blue electricity. It was just enough light to reveal Misa at his side in the otherwise pitch-darkness of the smoke cloud. "Misa, wait here until I give the signal. It's best we keep as many of your new abilities as secret as we can." She nodded, and summoned back the violet metal Beyond had scattered, solidifying it again as simple plate armor.

The smoke passed, revealing unnaturally clear, perfect air between them and Beyond. What remained of the inferno was now confined to the blade of Beyond's longsword, flames so intense and bright they were almost white.

_That display of power was impressive, but remarkably inefficient. Beyond would know that, so he almost certainly did it for more than theatricality. Perhaps he has trouble focusing all of his magicka through the sword safely? It would explain why he didn't use it to kill me the last time we fought. _

Misa glanced at Ryuzaki, noting the breeze that carried his cloak gently out behind him. She briefly recalled seeing several superhero films featuring similar scenes. She was thus amused all the more when Ryuzaki leaned forward and flew directly at Beyond.

Their swords met, giving off a sound composed of both roaring flames and bellowing thunder.

Beyond was sent flying.

It was then that Ryuzaki realized that he'd overestimated Beyond. Having seen the feats his former apprentice was capable of, his breakthroughs in magic that arguably surpassed Ryuzaki's own, he took for granted the fact that he'd thought of innovations Beyond had never considered, such as enchanting his own body to match the physical force Alduin could exert.

This was the first time Strunkriid had actually struck Beyond's defenses, and it was shockingly effective. Some thirty feet away, Beyond managed to stabilize himself in midair, and he shook his head in disbelief at Ryuzaki's strength. He planted both hands firmly on the hilt of his sword, and declared, "Any traces of disappointment I had in you are gone now." He gave a cold smirk. "You know, I had dozens of strategies to take you down with this weapon, and in two seconds you rendered all but one useless. I'll have to attack you from thirty feet away with a sword."

"Ranged attacks, like my own," Ryuzaki paraphrased. "That's a shame," he declared as he added his left hand to Strunkriid's hilt. "I'd hoped to learn whatever techniques you'd developed with your sword and apply them to my own arsenal." Beyond's scowl deepened. "But I can still ask, how have you been tracking me throughout Skyrim?"

"On the off chance you survive this battle, telling you that could cause me problems."

"I see." Strunkriid was engulfed in a growling wreath of lightning, a bundle of a hundred thin bolts wrapped together around the blade, writhing and switching places with one another. He drew the weapon back on his right side, as though preparing to swing it, and Beyond mirrored the action with his own sword lit in fire.

Ryuzaki moved forward, but Beyond launched his attack directly at Misa. As he expected, Ryuzaki vanished in a violet portal with a sound like shattering glass. _Now, do it. Jump right in front of my attack on purpose. _Beyond grinned as a flash of vivid purple deflected his arc of flame, and it struck further down the mountainside where it exploded.

When the smoke cleared, however, Misa stood alone in the courtyard, grinning smugly up at him and guarded by a floating stream of glowing purple liquid.

"What!?"

Beyond turned, just in time to see Ryuzaki's sneak attack from behind and dodge. He raised his own sword, instinctively using his magicka-enhanced speed to block Strunkriid. To his and Ryuzaki's surprise, both of them were thrown. The oldest and second-oldest children of Wammy's House steadied themselves in midair, both noting that the speed enhancement from Beyond's magicka had also boosted his strength to withstand Ryuzaki's draconic might. With renewed confidence, Beyond utilized this, and began attacking viciously at Ryuzaki.

Their weapons leaked fire and shock magic respectively, and Beyond pushed forward with them locked together, his teeth bared in angry triumph. Ryuzaki floated backward through the open air, twisting both swords aside to disengage, flying upward for the high ground. Misa watched the two circle each other in midair, their swords roaring with volatile energy as they struck each other.

After testing Beyond's strength properly, Ryuzaki circled around his foe, placing Beyond between himself and the Karthspire. He summoned his power and prepared to throw one of his signature lightning blasts. Beyond readied a counterattack, and threw an arc of flame to destroy Ryuzaki's attack of electricity. As he expected, his power outmatched Ryuzaki's as it exploded, sending the Dragonborn hurtling away through the sky, with his kilt and cloak billowing, the latter on fire.

Meanwhile, however, Misa had seen Ryuzaki's move for what it was, a signal, and she responded by kicking off the ground and flying into battle with all of her liquid metal wrapped around her sword. As Ryuzaki threw his attack and Beyond countered, she rocketed toward her foe's back unseen, with her sword pulled back for a lethal strike.

Beyond whirled and held out his hands, freezing her in midair. She narrowed her eyes and tried to swing her weapon, but she was immobilized. She struggled, and Beyond answered by throwing her back toward the mountain.

By this time, however, Ryuzaki was flying into the fray once more, and Misa joined him to attack their opponent on both sides. She swung her sword against Beyond's, matching his strength with the enchantments Ryuzaki had given her only days before. The liquid on her blade lashed out and tangled around Beyond's black sword, leaving him open to Ryuzaki's strike which split his crimson leather Volkihar armor, drawing a line of the same color across his back.

Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed Light landing on what remained of the balcony, leaving Serana there and soaring toward the battle. Beyond ripped his sword from Misa's grasp as Light approached, and fled, knowing he was outnumbered and outmatched.

X

"There's no force on Nirn that can convince her to stop now," Esbern declared solemnly. "Delphine will move forward with her attack on the dragons."

He and Ryuzaki stood in the dining hall of Fort Dawnguard. The Dragonborn nodded sadly as he heard Esbern's words. "She can't defeat me, but she can slaughter my kind. And she'll seek the power to cast me down as well, even if it costs her soul." He set down the tome of Akaviri lore he had been reading, setting the ancient book gently on a nearby table. "Is there anything I can do now, to protect my species?"

"Delphine will hide and gather followers, waiting to strike until she is strong and you are distracted or weak. When she reveals herself, defeat her so ruthlessly that her followers flee in terror. I can think of no way to peacefully resolve this. Your... no, our last chance for that was in Sky Haven Temple." Esbern replied.

Dexion Evicus, meanwhile, cradled Serana's Elder Scroll in his arms, with Ryuzaki's Scroll on the table in front of him, the same table Ryuzaki and Esbern stood by. "Perhaps the Elder Scrolls, in their infinite knowledge, might aid us in that as well, when the time comes to read them."

"Perhaps, but it's unlikely. The Elder Scrolls rarely tell tales that aren't already bound in prophecy," Esbern observed. "I fear they'll tell us nothing of help."

Ryuzaki chose a chair at the table to crouch in, and began, "Perhaps I specifically was called to this world because so few others could manage all of these problems at once. Perhaps I was born for the purpose of managing them." He nibbled his lip, wishing he had a supply of candy at his disposal. "And I can manage them. In fact, my next course of action is rather obvious at this point." He thought of the Thalmor then, and declared, "Tonight I will return to my home world. It should take me no more than two days to finish my business there, and when I return, we will retrieve the third Elder Scroll from the hiding place Serana deduced."

X

To help remind me to stay on task with writing this story, I'll now be posting weekly progress reports in the style of HPMOR. To be fair, I had it written on paper two weeks ago, but to be blunt I kept distracting myself whenever I sat down to type it on my laptop. Such distractions included playing through the entirety of the first Assassin's Creed in two days. I'm sorry for that.

As for HPMOR, if you don't know what those initials mean, Google them. You'll thank yourself for the rest of your life if you do.

The first progress report will be on Wednesday, August 7, and will be on my profile. Every week afterward, these reports will continue.


End file.
